


Yellow Tinted Goggles

by SerenBex



Series: Destiny is Just a Concept [1]
Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-02
Updated: 2016-09-21
Packaged: 2018-08-12 16:00:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 42,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7940605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerenBex/pseuds/SerenBex
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Kevin brings his cousin to work, things start getting weird. Jac fits into the team well, but is everything as it seems?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... this idea came to me when I was spending many hours at the hospital after my dad had an accident. It wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it, so here it is! 
> 
> I apologise if there are any problems with 'Americanisms', but I'm British, so that's my excuse!

“Err… Kevin?” Abby motioned towards the brunette stranger who was bending over the workbench and peering closely at Holtz’s inventions.

 

“Hello.” He waved at her, smiling broadly.

 

“Hi!” Erin waved back, too enthusiastically for her friend’s liking.

 

“Who is… err… who’s that?”

 

“Oh, yeah…” Kevin paused in chewing his sandwich and followed their gaze, pointing towards the woman. “This is Titch.”

 

“Titch? What normal person is called Titch?”

 

“Her name is actually Jac.”

 

“Why did you say Titch, then?” Erin asked, exasperatedly.

 

“It’s a nickname.”

 

“And Jac is…?” Patty asked, taking control of the questioning in the hopes of getting some sense out of him.

 

“My cousin.”

 

“Your cousin?”

 

“Yeah! We’re like… related? My dad is her dad’s brother. We call her Titch because she is like two feet shorter than everyone else in the family. Cool, huh?”

 

Abby furrowed her eyebrows. “Cool, yes. But what is she doing here?”

 

“I brought her.”

 

“Why?”

 

He looked totally thrown by the question. “Because she was with me when I walked here?”

 

The shortest of the women in front of him threw up her hands in exasperation. “Why was she with you when you walked here?”

 

“She’s come to visit for a while.”

 

“Visit us?” Erin asked, folding her arms across her chest.

 

“Oh? Do you know her, too?”

 

“No, Kevin, I meant… never mind.” The physicist shook her head and decided that it would probably be easier to go straight to the woman they were asking about. At least, she hoped that it would be simpler. Taking a couple of steps towards Kevin's cousin, she painted a smile onto her face. “Hello? Excuse me? Hi.”

 

As she turned round, Erin decided that the only similarity between Kevin and his cousin were the large thick-rimmed glasses that they both wore; although the woman’s actually had lenses in them. She was, indeed, a lot shorter than her cousin. Fixing her dark eyes on Erin and shooting her a wide smile, the stranger held out a hand in greeting. As she stepped closer to shake the proffered hand, Erin took in the vivid red streaks through the dark hair and the ripped jeans and baggy t-shirt that the shorter woman was wearing.

 

“Jac… Jacqueline Beckman, hi.” She introduced herself, her accent suggesting that, unlike Kevin, she was not Australian. “You must be… Dr Erin Gilbert, right? Former assistant physics professor at Columbia University and co-author of Ghosts from Our Past: Both Literally and Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal.”

 

“Yes.” She nodded, slightly impressed at the woman’s knowledge and also a little confused.

 

“Dr Abigail Yates.” Jac moved past Erin to shake Abby’s hand, equally enthusiastically. “Formerly of the Kenneth P. Higgins Institute of Science… you co-wrote the book with Dr Gilbert.” She moved her gaze to the woman beside Abby. “Patty Tolan… resident history expert and, according to Kevin, general legend.”

 

“I like this.” Holtz piped up. “It’s like being famous.”

 

“Dr Jillian Holtzmann.” The brunette’s eyes darted to the other woman, her smile seeming to widen even further. “Engineer, inventor, munitions expert and specialist in experimental particle physics…”

 

“A fan of mine, are you?”

 

Jac smiled. “I am… I'm a very big fan.”

 

“Did you read the original copy of their book, or the revised edition, because my chapter was just brilliant?”

 

“I read both.” The younger woman assured her with a smirk, earning herself an impressed nod and double finger guns from the engineer.

 

“Can I just ask – not that I have anything against this whole sharing how great we are situation – how do you know so much about us?” Abby asked, folding her arms over her chest.

 

“Kevin talks about you guys all the time.” The young woman explained, her attention gravitating back to the bits and pieces littering Holtz’s workbench. “The Conductors of the Metaphysical Examination, widely known as the Ghostbusters. I am a huge fan.”

 

“We don’t really do autographs…” Erin told her, looking a little uncomfortable at the thought that that might be what Kevin’s cousin was hoping for.

 

“Oh, Titch doesn’t want your autograph, she wants to join the Ghostbusters.” Kevin informed them, lolloping across the room and slinging his arm around her shoulders. “Did I tell you she was an electrician?”

 

“Mechanical and electrical engineer and specialist in computer programming, Kev, not electrician.” She shook her head fondly. “But, yes, I would very much like to assist you.”

 

Holtz tilted her head and fixed the brunette with a curious frown. “Why?”

 

“We don’t just run around shooting at ghosts and getting on TV, you know.” Abby told her, narrowing her eyes slightly.

 

Jac shook her head vehemently. “Oh, I know. I’ve read the all papers you’ve published and it’s an intriguing field of study. Your book was astounding – both versions – the chapter on Spectral Field Theory was fascinating; the Yates-Gilbert Equation was just inspired.”

 

“It’s been nice to meet you and I’m really glad that you enjoyed the books, but I really don’t think we need any extra–” Erin started, stopping abruptly as the woman turned away and picked up one of the half-completed inventions Holtz had been working on.

 

“That’s just something I’ve been messing around with.” The blonde said, sliding across the floor to stand beside Jac and lean against her workbench. “It's supposed to be a way of transporting ghosts to a secure location, but I haven’t been able to balance the mechanism for the separating door. It keeps getting stuck and shocking me…”

 

There was a pause as they both stared at the tangle of wires and circuitry thoughtfully. “Bennett's linkage.”

 

Holtz’s eyes widened as she rapidly ran through the possibilities that the other woman's suggestion opened up in her mind. “Of course! Why didn’t I think of that?”

 

Jac laughed softly. “Sometimes it takes a fresh pair of eyes.” She leant forward, her eyes moving over the blueprint of the device while her fingers ghosted over the mechanics. “This is absolute genius… the intricacy of the design… the combination of different mechanical ideas and energies...”

 

“Oh stop... are you flirting with me?” Holtz winked and then bowed theatrically. “What can I say? I’m good with my hands.”

 

“I bet you are.” Jac agreed, shooting her a smirk. “Have you considered installing a super-capacitor and using pulsed power to increase the intensity of the transportation energy?”

 

“I did consider that.” The blonde nodded, leaping around her workbench to snatch up several scraps of paper, laying them in front of the other woman and tapping at the scribbles with her fingernail. “But I was worried about the potential for electrical burns and potentially fatal shocks.” Holtz broke into a sharp laugh, wafting a hand in the air dismissively. “I’m joking, I wasn’t worried.”

 

“Fatal schmatal.”

 

Turning back to her friends, the blonde’s eyes went comically wide and she jabbed her thumb over her shoulder in excitement at the woman who was still examining her work. “Can we keep her? Please?”

 

“Holtz…”

 

“I’ll feed her and walk her, I promise!”

 

“Oh, Jac can feed herself.” Kevin chipped in helpfully. “And she’s been walking since she was about two, right, Titch?”

 

“Right, Kev.” She agreed distractedly, picking up a metal pipe with a tangle of wires attached to it. “Is this going to be some sort of disintegration gun?”

 

As Holtzmann whirled away to continue Jac's tour of her workbench and her education into the proposed additions to their arsenal and Kevin meandered back towards his desk to ignore the ringing phone, the three remaining Ghostbusters moved closer together. Three pairs of eyes zeroed in on the two engineers talking animatedly about the mangled piece of metal that Holtzmann was waving around dangerously. Pointing at something on one of the blonde’s copious blueprints, Jac caused her to clap her palm to her forehead and reach for a pencil.

 

“I think Holtzmann’s just been Holtzmanned.” Patty muttered, watching the two women interacting with interest.

 

“We don’t need anyone else.” Erin pointed out in a low voice. “Remember what Mayor Bradley said? We need to keep a low profile. Adding to our numbers is hardly following that advice, is it?”

 

Abby and Patty exchanged a look, both nodding decisively. The thought of irritating the mayor’s office had made up their minds. “She’s in.”

 

There was no settling in period at the fire station. Holtzmann immediately set Jac to work looking over the rest of the new ideas she was working on, encouraging her to spot anything she might have overlooked in her developmental process. She came up with a few suggestions and they debated each and every new device thoroughly, going round in circles as they worked through the logistics of each idea.

 

Finally, Abby called up to the second floor that dinner had arrived and they set down the blueprints. Holtzmann waved her new colleague down the stairs ahead of her, saying that she wanted to run something past Erin quickly before she joined them.

 

Taking one of the seats at the table, Jac grinned at Kevin as he attempted to fit a whole slice of pizza into his mouth at once, ending up with most of it down his shirt. Grinning, she threw a paper napkin in his direction, watching as he dabbed at the tomato sauce for a moment before giving up with a shrug.

 

“So, what’s your history?” Abby asked, dropping down into the seat across from the newcomer's. “Why so interested in ghosts?”

 

“It’s probably because death follows her around. Titch is like a death magnet.” Kevin said simply, earning himself a scowl from his cousin. “I mean, first her brother, then her mum, then our grandparents, then her girlfriend. She’s practically cursed.”

 

“Thanks, Kevin!” Jac snapped. “You make it sound like I was responsible or something.”

 

“Oh, she definitely wasn't." He assured them, before furrowing his eyebrows. "At least I don't think she was? Our grandparents were like, way old.”

 

“But the others…?” Patty asked as she joined them, putting several cans of soda on the surface between them and settling herself beside Abby.

 

“My brother drowned on a school trip when he was ten and I was six.” Jac told them matter-of-factly; as though it was something she'd read in a book rather than a part of her own life. “My mum had a heart attack when I was twelve, not too long after we moved to the UK and Katie…”

 

“She died in a car crash. Jac was supposed to pick her up that night, but she got caught up at work so Katie ended up getting a cab… which crashed.” Kevin informed them when Jac trailed off. “It was a real shame because I _really_ liked Katie.”

 

“Again, thanks Kevin.”

 

“We call her the angel of death.” He continued, not spotting the dangerous expression in her eyes. When she reached out and thumped him hard on her shoulder. “Ow! What was that for?”

 

“You know I don't talk about Katie…” Jac hissed at him. “And that extends to you. You don’t talk about Katie either.”

 

“Who’s Katie?” Holtz asked, dropping into a chair and looping her arm casually around Abby’s shoulders.

 

Jac stood up abruptly, not caring about looking rude, as Erin sat down and sent her a bemused look. "I’ve got a few things to sort out... new apartment and all that. So... today’s been great. I’ll see you tomorrow?"

 

“Bright and early.” Abby nodded, smiling brightly.

 

As the young woman left the fire station, she heard Holtzmann repeating her question and Kevin explaining who the mysterious Katie was, apparently already forgotten that he wasn't supposed to talk about her. Jac squeezed her hands into fists as she walked the few blocks back to her new apartment, letting herself in and going straight into the kitchen to get a drink.

 

“How did it go?” A quiet voice asked and the young woman felt a familiar cold draft around her waist. “Tough first day?”

 

“No, it was… it was pretty great, actually.” Turning, the woman smiled at the ghostly form of her girlfriend, blue tinged and hovering between her and the archway that led to the living room. “I think I’m going to like being a Ghostbuster.”


	2. Chapter 2

“So…” Holtzmann leant on her elbow, grinning at the younger woman as she concentrated on soldering two wires together. “Come here often?”

 

She peered carefully at Jac as she hunched over the workbench, taking in the minute cues from her appearance that told Holtz as much about what was going on as the brunette would herself. Over the last week, Holtzmann had taken every opportunity she’d been given to study her new colleague very carefully. Jac’s hair was scraped back messily, tied in a loose bun, with one bright red strand escaping from the band and tucked behind her ear. That, in itself, told Holtzmann that she was concentrating on something, but the fact that she had snagged the blonde’s yellow-tinted goggles from off the top of her head meant that she was deeply immersed in what she was doing.

 

“Most days.” Jac agreed distractedly, completely missing the flirtatious tone and answering the question. “The service here is incredible.”

 

As if on cue, Kevin appeared with two mugs in his hands. He immediately handed one to Holtz, before taking a long gulp from the other. Jac stared at him in disbelief, her hand still outstretched for the mug that her cousin was now drinking from. Seconds later, Kevin spat the contents of his mouth back into the mug, half of it splattering all over the floor. He pulled a face and shoved the mug forcefully into the brunette’s hand.

 

“I really hate coffee.” He grimaced. “This is yours, Titch.”

 

“Thanks, Kev…” Jac muttered, looking at the liquid with distain, before moving the mug firmly out of her eye line. “I totally take the service comment back. The service here is absolutely terrible. It’s actually the worst.”

 

“So it must be the outstanding company that keeps you coming back here, then.” Holtzmann suggested with a grin.

 

“Mmm, something like that.”

 

The blonde frowned, unused to such a lukewarm response to her attempts at flirting however intently her colleague was concentrating. “Whatcha doing, Beckman?”

 

“Working on something.”

 

“Working on what?”

 

“You mentioned wanting to increase the range of the proton guns, without affecting their effectiveness or reliability.” Jac reminded her, reaching for a screwdriver that was just out of her reach.

 

“That was an offhand comment while we were eating Pop-Tarts for late breakfast.” Holtzmann said, handing the tool over and letting her fingertips brush against the brunette’s for a second longer than necessary.

 

“Thanks. Yeah, I know, but I thought it was worth a shot. Anyway, my first attempt was… not so good. I tested the gun in the alleyway and nearly took my own head off.”

 

“Where was I?”

 

“Sandwich run with Patty.”

 

“Ah… Kickback?”

 

“Mmm…”

 

“Gutted I missed that one.”

 

“Next time I’ll film it for you.”

 

“Much appreciated.”

 

Jac sighed, shaking her head. “I think I’m getting there, now, though.”

 

“Yeah?” Holtzmann looked excitedly at the device in the brunette’s hands. “You wanna test it?”

 

“I’ll get the camera.”

 

“On second thoughts…”

 

Laughing, the younger woman straightened up and rubbed the back of her neck with a long sigh. Stretching out her arms, working out the kinks from spending so long hunched over the workbench without moving. Catching sight of Holtzmann watching her studiously, she took her goggles off and held them out in the other woman’s direction with an apologetic smile.

 

“Sorry… I totally get what you mean about them helping you concentrate.” She shrugged. “Apparently the slightly yellow tinge they give the world makes it easier to focus.”

 

“Anytime, baby.” The blonde offered, slipping her goggles back into their customary position nestled in her hair, before wandering away with her hands in her pockets. “You know what helps me when I get all scrunched up like that?”

 

“What?”

 

“Dancing!” Holtzmann exclaimed, turning up the volume of the stereo and filling the workshop with 90’s pop. She wrinkled her nose at the music. “Why do you insist on listening to this?”

 

“I’m a child of the 90’s, what can I say?” Jac laughed.

 

She perched herself on the edge of her workbench, watching the blonde shimmying around the room to the beat, using wrenches and screwdrivers as microphones, playing a blowtorch like an air guitar and then leaping across the floor with a fire extinguisher to put out the small fire she’d started. Resisting all of Holtzmann’s attempts to draw her into the dance as well, Jac simply watched happily, clapping when the blonde crashed into her finale with an enthusiastic leap over Patty’s partially disassembled proton pack.

 

Before long the blonde was fully engrossed in her work once more and Jac was able to observe her with as much intensity as Holtzmann had been watching her before. Pretending to scrutinise the list of ideas that Kevin had thoughtfully written up and handed to her earlier that morning, the brunette slipped off her workbench and moved slightly, so that she was at the perfect angle for Holtzmann-watching.

 

  1. _Mechanical arms with boxing gloves on the ends._ Holtzmann screwed up her nose adorably and wriggled it a couple of times, before giving in and putting down the wrench in her hand to scratch her itch.



 

  1. _Hats with cell phones attached so that we don't have to use our hands. Preferably baseball caps._ There was now a smudge of dirt across the blonde’s forehead that grew as she rubbed at it thoughtfully, evidently considering a problem that she hadn’t foreseen until that moment. The streak extended down the left side of her face as she ran her index finger down her cheek to tap on her lip thoughtfully.



 

  1. _Oversized robots._ Holtzmann was reaching towards the stereo, her shirt riding up a little as she stretched to her left, revealing a strip of pale skin. Jac frowned lightly as the blonde changed the setting from cassette to radio, switching from the brunette’s 90’s pop to her favoured 80’s station and filling the room with the sound of David Bowie’s _Rebel Rebel_.



 

  1. _Miniature robots._ Despite her focus on the circuit board in front of her, the blonde was wiggling her hips in time with the beat, bobbing on the balls of her feet as she worked.



 

  1. _Any type of robot, really._ The bobbing and hip shaking had morphed into shimmying once more. Picking up a blowtorch, Holtzmann twirled on the spot, jumping and landing with her feet shoulder width apart as the chorus of the song kicked in.  



 

  1. _Please just build me a robot, Jac._ The brunette winced as her friend started using the blowtorch as a guitar again, paying less attention to what she was doing this time, jumping around the space in front of her workbench and head banging enthusiastically.



 

Sensing that something was likely to catch fire if she didn’t jump in and severely doubting that she would notice, Jac grabbed the fire extinguisher and wandered over to Holtzmann. She casually sprayed a medium sized flame before it could take hold, leaning against the bench until the blonde noticed her. With a broad grin on her face, Holtzmann put the blowtorch down and grabbed hold of Jac’s hands, whirling her round the room. Shaking her head, the younger woman laughed and allowed herself to be moved around into the track ended and Holtzmann dropped into her chair, exhaling sharply.

 

“Feel better now?” Jac asked, leaning against the workbench once more.

 

“Much.”

 

“Are you on word ration today?”

 

Holtzmann frowned. “Huh?”

 

“You’re not as loquacious as usual.”

 

“Oooh, good word.” The blonde nodded, apparently impressed. “Ten points to Gryffindor.”

 

“Slytherin.” Jac corrected her, as if it was totally obvious.

 

“Of course. My apologies, half-blood princess.” Holtzmann wafted a hand at her from her slouched position in her chair.

 

“So what’s with the lack of chat?”

 

“Just thinking about this tracking device we talked about. Logistically it should be straightforward enough to program and develop but how can we cram all the whatnots that are needed into a device that's small enough to carry around with us all the time?” She sighed dramatically. “I mean… have you seen Erin’s little bird arms? I’m worried they might actually snap if she has to carry something too heavy.”

 

“Birds don’t have arms.”

 

“Little teeny-tiny bird leg arms.”

 

Jac pulled a face. “That’s a seriously strange image.”

 

“So, anyway…” She drew out the syllables, shooting the brunette a mock-stern look. “How can we cram a circuit board into something small enough not to break Erin’s little teeny-tiny bird leg arms.”

 

“How tired are you, Holtzy? There’s this invention called a computer chip?”

 

“I know that,” she shrugged indifferently, “but I’m more of a… physical gal.” Winking at her colleague, she grinned. “I don’t really do computers.”

 

“That’s the beauty of this relationship.” Jac pointed out.

 

“Oh, this is a relationship now, is it?” Holtzmann asked, leaning forwards and sending her a suggestive look.

 

“You do the designing and… major sciency stuff. I’ll do the computer programming stuff.”

 

“This sounds like a very one-sided relationship. Maybe I start calling you pillow princess, rather than half-blood.”

 

“You are so hilarious.” The brunette deadpanned. “So, you’re happy with that?”

 

“Happy with what? That you’re a pillow princess or that this is a relationship now?”

 

“Holtzmann.”

 

“Yes, I am happy with you doing the computer programming.”

 

Jac smiled, leaning over to flick the switch and change the stereo setting from radio to cassette once more. With a half-hearted sigh, Holtzmann hip bumped her as she passed on her way back to the workbench and they both returned their attention to the devices they’d been tinkering with. She did, though, bounce along to the beat of the track that started as she threw a spanner in the younger woman’s direction as she held up her hand signalling that she needed the tool.

 

“It’s amazing how nsync you two are already.” Abby announced, making them both jump as she strode into the room, perfectly in time with the culmination of the chorus of _Bye Bye Bye_.

 

“How long have you been waiting to say that one?” Jac asked with a soft chuckle.

 

“A while… I thought of it about half an hour ago and I knew the song would be round again before long.”

 

“That’s commitment to a pun.”

 

“I liked it.” Holtzmann informed her with a thumbs up.

 

“Good.” Abby beamed at her.

 

"You almost missed out, though, because Holtzmann turned the classic tunes off.”

 

“I swapped them for tunes that are even more classic.” The blonde defended herself. “Besides, where did you even find the best of the 90’s cassette tape? Who even sells cassette tapes anymore?”

 

“I found it over there under a pile of newspapers and a couple of old pipes. I wonder who they belong to?”

 

“Are you saying that this monstrosity belongs to me?”

 

“I think that’s what I’m saying, yeah.”

 

Abby sighed, cutting their jokey debate short. “I also came to tell you we’ve got a shout. Are you ready to go?”


	3. Chapter 3

The two engineers stopped what they were doing immediately, ensuring there were no naked flames or accidents waiting to happen, before Holtzmann showed Jac where the jumpsuits were kept. She pulled it on quickly, almost bursting with excitement as she helped her friend load the proton packs into the trunk of the hearse before moving to climb into the back.

 

“Are you excited for your first bust?” Abby asked leaning across Erin in the middle seat as Jac slid in beside her, slamming the door.

 

“Like you wouldn’t believe.”

 

Patty craned her neck to look back at them from the passenger’s seat. “I’m just gonna bring up this topic again, because I, for one, am liking the idea of a holiday. Nothing too extravagant... I’m thinking maybe just a couple days in front of my TV with a mountain of junk food. That’s sounding pretty sweet about now.”

 

“We’ll discuss it.” Abby promised as Holtzmann slammed her foot down on the accelerator and Ecto-1 shot into the street and headed away in the direction of the haunted building they had been called to.

 

The light conversation continued as they drove across the city. Patty refused to let the topic of her potential holiday die down and Hotlzmann joined in with her demand for some time off, more because Abby and Erin were trying to steer the conversation away from the idea than any real desire to actually turn the suggestion into anything more.

 

She drew the hearse to a halt beside the curb with a loud screech and they all climbed out looking up at the building expectantly. It was exactly the type of slightly creepy house that Jac would have expected to have a ‘chronic infestation of ghoulies’, as Holtzmann put it. Wrinkling her nose, the young woman jumped as the blonde slung a proton pack over her shoulders with a broad grin, laughing at her surprise and squeezing her bicep before whirling away to grab her own from the back of Ecto-1.

 

They trooped up to the door of the house and Abby raised her hand to knock. Before she could even curl her fingers into a fist, the door was flung open and a terrified looking man appeared in front of them. He mumbled something about the basement before pushing through them and disappearing along the street. The five women watched him go, before shaking their heads and moving cautiously into the house.

 

“Why do ghosts always haunt creepy ass buildings?” Patty groused as they took in their surroundings. The dark wooden panelling on the walls added to the atmosphere, as did the old fashioned portraits and the many porcelain busts that sat on the shelves that lined the walls. “Why can’t they occasionally haunt a shoe store or something?”

 

“A coffee shop would also be appreciated.” Holtzmann agreed, prodding disdainfully at one of the figurines and raising her voice as though addressing the spirit world as a whole. “Or a bar.”

 

“Can we focus for a minute, please?” Erin requested exasperatedly.

 

“You’ve gotta admit a bar would be a much more welcome place for us to investigate.”

 

“Holtzy’s got a point, though, man. That would be sweet!” Patty shrugged as Erin shot her a look.

 

“OK, fine, we’ll go to a bar after this bust.” Abby sighed, rolling her eyes as the two women high-fived in front of her. “So can we please just get this done?”

 

“Where do we start?” Jac asked eagerly.

 

“Awww!” Holtzmann reached out and ruffled her hair. “She’s like an excited little puppy.”

 

“He specifically mentioned the basement, right?” Erin clarified, glancing at the others quickly.

 

“Just now, yeah.” Patty agreed. “But if we dissect the original message that was passed on by Kevin then there might be a racoon in the freezer or, possibly, a tennis racquet in the forest.”

 

Erin stared at her blankly for a moment, before turning to look at the others. “So we should start there. Let’s split up. Abby and Patty take the attic. Holtz are you OK on this floor? Jac and I will take the basement.”

 

“Put the newbie in the danger zone; I like it.” Holtzmann pointed at Erin with a grin. “Good luck, princess.”

 

The women separated, Holtzmann sending them a cocky two fingered salute as she moonwalked through the closest doorway. Jac narrowed her eyes at the blonde, shaking her head at the nickname, before she followed Erin down the rickety wooden staircase and into the pitch-black basement. As the older woman felt her way carefully through the dark, trying to avoid falling over anything, Jac searched the wall beside her with her palm. Locating the light switch, she clicked it on, flooding the space with light from the fluorescent tubes nestled between the wooden beams above them.

 

“What?” She shrugged as the physicist turned to look at her. “Easier to hunt ghosts if we can see what we’re doing, right?”

 

Acknowledging that she had a point, Erin nodded and continued through the piles of boxes and various other bits of junk that littered the basement. Nothing immediately jumped out at them, but the spinning antennae on the PKE meter held tightly in Erin’s hands was whirling round wildly, indicating that there was something of interest in the area.

 

“I can smell something…” The younger woman said, wrinkling her nose.

 

“Ionisation discharge.” Erin nodded at her, staring at the graphical interface on the display. “There’s definitely something here.”

 

“And my ears just popped.”

 

“Change in pressure; APXA shift. It’s all good news for us.”

 

“As, I suspect, is that glowing, floating thing over there.” Jac said, pointing over Erin’s shoulder.

 

Turning hastily, Erin almost laughed out loud at the sight that greeted her. A shadowy torso, electric blue and pulsing every now and then with light, hovered in the air in front of them, apparently appraising them closely. It didn’t move as they approached, leading the physicist to lower her proton gun slightly.

 

“Hello.” She took another step closer to the ghost. “My name is Erin… Dr Erin Gilbert and I–”

 

With a grinding, rumbling sound, the figure opened its mouth unnaturally wide and projectile vomited all over the woman. The action lasted for what seemed like a very long time and Jac was caught somewhere between panicking and wanting to laugh. As the liquid slowly stopped flowing out of the ghost, Erin emitted a quiet, irritated whimper. Wincing as she realised just how much of her colleague was now covered in the ghost vomit, Jac reached for her proton gun, aimed and squeezed the trigger.

 

The ghost was wrapped in the proton stream discharged from the weapon instantly. In a couple of seconds Erin had jumped into action and aimed her own gun at the ghost. Reaching behind her with one hand, she unclipped a ghost trap from her utility belt. Erin dropped it on the ground between them and the ghost, activating it hurriedly and using the beam from her proton gun to drag the entity closer to the unit. Jac quickly followed her lead, seeing what she was trying to achieve and, with a satisfying sucking sound and a clunk, the ghost disappeared inside the unit and the door clicked shut.

 

Cheering, Erin raised her hand and high-fived Jac in celebration, laughing as the younger woman pulled a face of complete disgust and wiped her now slime-covered hand on her jumpsuit. She lifted the PKE meter and checked for more ghosts while the younger woman picked up the containment unit and peered at it interestedly for a moment.

 

“We got it.” Erin said, nodding sharply. “We’re clear down here. Let’s find the others.”

 

It turned out that the rest of the house had been taken care of and the other three Ghostbusters had been on the verge of making their way down to the basement to join them when Erin and Jac emerged through the wooden door underneath the staircase with the ghost trap. Holtzmann ruffled Jac’s hair again, while both Abby and Patty hugged her, congratulating her on her first successful bust. No one seemed keen to get too close to Erin, smirking lightly as she wiped goop off her face in long, sticky strings.

 

“This definitely calls for drinks, right?” Patty announced with a firm nod; more of an order than an enquiry.

 

“Maybe a shower, first?” Erin muttered, plucking at her sodden jumpsuit. “Why me? Every single time?”

 

“Actually, that might be a wise move.” Holtzmann agreed, winking at her. “I wasn’t gonna mention it, but you’ve got a little something on you.”

 

“Here?” The brunette asked, rubbing a tiny amount of slime off her cheek, making almost no difference to her appearance.

 

“Yeah, you got it.”

 

“Fabulous.”

 

“What is that stuff all over Erin?” Jac asked as she helped Holtz load the proton packs into the trunk of the hearse.

 

“Well… technically it’s ectoplasmic discharge… ecto-projection…” She explained. “Otherwise known as slime. Or, as I like to call it, Gilbert juice.”

 

“That sounds…”

 

“Really dirty, I know.” Holtzmann grinned broadly. “Erin hates it when I call it that.”

 

“Why specifically Gilbert juice?” Jac queried.

 

The blonde laughed. “Erin is always getting slimed. The rest of us? Nothing. Nada. Never. Well, almost never… there was that one incident where Patty got splattered, but it’s so rare that any of us get targeted, that it’s Gilbert juice.”

 

“That’s… weird.”

 

“Don’t question it. It’s just one of life’s wonderful, beautiful little quirks and it should be totally respected.”

 

As though that was the end of the conversation and everything Jac needed to know on the topic, Holtzmann rounded the hearse and yanked open the driver’s door. It had been decided that Erin would sit in the front passenger’s seat, because no one wanted to get close enough to her to get slime on them, so Jac slipped into the back seat between Abby and Patty. Driving through New York as quickly as they could, music blaring from the stereo, Ecto-1 was filled with a party atmosphere. Apparently they celebrated every successful bust; as Patty explained, it helped to keep them motivated.

 

“Kev? Kevin!” Abby called as they entered the fire station and propelled Erin in the direction of the shower. “Where are you?”

 

“I’m feeding the parrot.” Came the muffled reply from somewhere in the region of the couch at the back of the room.

 

“We got a parrot?” Patty frowned in confusion. “We don’t got a parrot, right?”

 

“Sure we do!” Kevin replied, popping up from behind the couch. “Bit of a weird place to keep it, though.”

 

The four women peered at the object in his hand as he crossed the floor towards them. With all due respect to the receptionist, it did look like some kind of creature in a cage, but as he came closer it became evident that Kevin was mistaken in his assumption.

 

“Ahh…”

 

“Is that…?”

 

“That’s my bad.” Holtzmann held up her hands in apology. “I forgot where I left that.”

 

“That’s a… Holtzy, is that an incredibly mouldy sandwich in a Faraday cage?” Abby asked, peering closely at what Kevin was carrying.

 

“Yeah…”

 

“I think it’s actually alive.” Jac murmured, scrunching up her nose and leaning in to get a closer look. “I swear it just moved…”

 

“You left it behind the couch?”

 

“Yeah…”

 

Shaking her head, Abby decided that the best course of action was to simply ignore the situation. Instead, she smiled warmly at the receptionist as Holtzmann wrestled the Faraday cage out of his grip and carried it away up the stairs. He blinked several times, before returning the woman’s smile with a toothy grin.

 

“We’re going out for a few drinks to celebrate Jac’s first successful bust. Are you in?”

 

“Does a bear shit in a toilet?”

 

The three women in front of him opened their mouths to correct him, but decided against it. Abby shook her head. “Great. Erin’s just showering and then we can get going.”

 

As they headed up to the first floor to store their jumpsuits and proton packs safely away, Patty turned to look at Jac with a genuinely curious expression on her face. “How, exactly, did he manage to survive this long?”

 

“He’s pretty.” The younger woman shrugged. “It’s amazing how far a pretty face will get you, or so I’ve learnt from observing my cousin’s life. It’s more fascinating than most of the things I learnt at school. The strangest thing is that his brother is a cardiothoracic surgeon and his sister is a vet. They’re two of the smartest people I’ve ever met.”

 

“I suppose that explains it then; the Beckman brains were all used up.”


	4. Chapter 4

“So, you’re a lesbian, Holtzmann is a lesbian...”

 

Jac arched an eyebrow at Kevin, turning to lean sideways against the bar so that she could fix him with a hard stare. “So? You’re pretty, Erin’s pretty...”

 

“Oh, you think Erin’s pretty!” He nodded, unconsciously matching the beat of the song that was playing. “I’m not sure if she’s into girls, though, TItch?”

 

“No, Kev, I was making a point.” She sighed deeply, wondering whether she had enough energy for a meaningful conversation with her cousin.

 

“I don’t think I get it.”

 

“I didn’t really expect you to.” Jac admitted, earning herself a shrug and a dopey grin. Unable to stop herself, she broke into a wide grin. “What I meant was, just because Holtz and I are both attracted to women doesn’t mean that we’re attracted to each other.”

 

“But... you are though, right?”

 

“No, Kev.”

 

“But you are though.” He beamed at her knowingly.

 

“No, Kev.” She repeated with a sigh. Glancing out onto the dance floor where their colleagues were drawing a lot of attention due to their wild dance moves and carefree attitudes towards the stares that were directed at them. It didn’t help that the copious free drinks they’d been bought had hit their systems and led to the exuberant show going on in the middle of the dance floor. “What about Erin, though?”

 

“She is really pretty, but I just don’t think she’s into girls, J.”

 

“I’m not entirely convinced on that one. But, no, dummy, I was actually talking about _you_ and Erin.”

 

“Me and Erin?” Kevin squinted in the direction of the woman in question, watching as she laughed at Holtzmann attempting to grab the hand of a pretty blonde girl dancing near her and twirl her round. “She is very hot.”

 

“She’s very hot for you, from what I’ve seen.”

 

“You think?” He asked hopefully.

 

“I do.” His cousin nodded firmly, handing over her card to the barman as he brought over their drinks. “You know I’m less dense about these things than you, so trust me on this one.”

 

“But you think she likes girls.”

 

“She obviously likes boys as well.” Jac reasoned. “She definitely likes you. Maybe she thinks you _are_ a girl?”

 

“But she’s scary smart.”                          

 

Jac looked at him sharply. “How many times have we had this conversation, Kev? You have plenty of amazing qualities that make up for the fact that you’re not the brightest bulb in the lamp.”

 

“I do?”

 

“You do.” She nodded. “You make a great cup of tea for one thing.” Jac sighed. “Look, Erin could be your ‘one’, you know? You and her could be like penguins or swans... they find the partner they’re destined to be with and stick with them for life.”

 

“Yeah?” Kevin beamed broadly at the thought.

 

“Yeah, maybe. If not, at least you tested the waters. Now, go and round up those Ghostbusters before our shots get cold.”

 

He peered at her for a moment, before breaking into a grin and pointing at her. “You’re kidding.”

 

“Yes, babe, I am. But go and get them anyway.”

 

Jac watched as her cousin danced away through the crowds of people to where she could see the four women happily twirling and shimmying to the beat. For such awkward nerds, it was nice to see them so at ease in the big crowd, especially when someone recognised them and their camera phone came were out and selfies were taken. Holtzmann took to the apparent fame the best, pulling faces for the cameras and smooshing her lips onto the cheek of any girl to ask for a photo. Patty, too, was thoroughly enjoying herself, but Abby and Erin seemed a little less at ease with their newfound popularity. Jac couldn’t blame them, she was sure she would have been exactly the same in their place.

 

Apparently grateful for the reprise, they followed Kevin back towards the booth that they had commandeered on their arrival, tugging Holtzmann and Patty with them. All four collapsed onto the padded seats, beaming warmly at the younger woman who had set the tray of shots in the centre of the table and proceeded to hand out the rest of the drinks, before shoving Holtzmann sideways so that she could sit down. Sending Kevin a meaningful look, the woman motioned for her cousin to sit beside Erin.

 

“Tequila?” The older woman questioned dubiously as she shuffled sideways for him to sit down, eyeing the shot glasses with a tiny amount of suspicion.

 

“Tequila.” Jac agreed as each of them picked up a glass and held it aloft. “To the Ghostbusters.”

 

“Ghostbusters!” They chorused, before they tipped back their heads as one and let the liquid slide down their throats.

 

“That was horrible.” Kevin announced, pulling a face as he set his shot glass back on the tray. “Really horrible. I do not like tequila.”

 

“You say that every damn time, baby.” Patty reminded him with a chuckle. “We might start believing you if you didn’t do another one like ten minutes later.”

 

“I forget.” He almost whined. “And Jac is so persuasive.” Standing up, slightly shakily, he attempted to squeeze past them out of the booth, in completely the wrong direction. After two attempts, he gave up and climbed over the back of the seat instead. “Gotta go drain the horse.”

 

Furrowing their eyebrows in confusion, the five women attempted to work out what he meant, before realising that he was headed in the direction of the toilets.

 

“Hose, not horse…” Jac muttered, shaking her head. “That boy…”

 

“Exactly how drunk is he?” Erin asked curiously, still craning her neck in the hopes of spotting him coming back.

 

“Why? Planning your move?” Holtzmann teased her with a wink.

 

“No!” The physicist blushed crimson. “He was just talking to me about penguins and swans on our way over here, that’s all. It didn’t make much much sense, but–”

 

“Kevin rarely ever does.” Abby nodded understandingly.

 

“That could be my fault.” Jac told her, causing four sets of interested eyes to flick towards her. “He was going on about how smart and pretty you are and how dumb he is – my words, not his – so I told him that you might be like penguins or swans and be each other’s ‘one’.”

 

“He thinks I’m pretty?” Erin asked, a gooey expression on her face.

 

“I believe his exact words were ‘very hot’, ‘really pretty’ and ‘scary smart’.”

 

“Were they…?”

 

“Oh man… you’ve done it now, Beckman.” Holtzmann told her, nudging her in the shoulder and watching Erin carefully as her face split into a beaming smile as Kevin meandered unsteadily back towards them. “Come on, let’s go and dance, princess.”

 

“Stop with the ‘princess’, Holtz. Besides, I don’t dance.” Jac informed her, folding her arms firmly over her chest, as Patty and Abby climbed to their feet.

 

“You do if you don’t want to get caught up in what could turn into a marathon Erin and Kevin make out session.” Holtzmann advised her, grasping her hand and tugging her towards the dance floor.

 

“Holtz, really…”

 

“Trust me.”

 

Fighting her way into the middle of the crowd, Jac had little choice but to allow herself to be dragged along in the blonde’s wake. She did trust Holtzmann, beyond a doubt, but that didn't make her any less apprehensive about the dancing part. Patty had obviously found the optimum position on the dance floor because they stopped walking abruptly and the other three began moving in time to the heavy, up-tempo beat of whatever track was playing.

 

Jac watched the other women, almost enviously, as they made it look effortless. There was no doubt that Abby’s dancing style was a little more sedate than her friends’, less wildly waving arms and hip shaking, but even she seemed to be having a really good time. There was something hypnotic about Holtzmann’s movements and Jac found her gaze dragged back to the blonde time and time again, as hard as she attempted to stop herself looking. She seemed to really feel the beat of the music and the younger woman was just starting to think that she was completely distracted by her dancing, when her eyes snapped open and she smiled.

 

“Come on, princess…”

 

“Holtz, no.” Jac shook her head, trying to back away from the hands reaching out in her direction. “I’m standing here, that’s enough.”

 

“Nope.”

 

“Holtzmann.”

 

“I’ll stop calling you princess if you dance with me.”

 

Exhaling sharply and pouting, the brunette nodded reluctantly. “Fine.”

 

“Yess!” Grinning, the blonde punched the air and pulled hard on the other woman’s hand. Twisting slightly and switching their positions, she pressed herself against Jac’s back and put her hands lightly on her hips. “You’ve got to actually feel the music.”

 

“Yeah… not good at that.” The brunette informed her uncomfortably, forcing her voice to remain steady, despite the way her body was reacting to the proximity and heat radiating off the woman behind her.

 

Obviously refusing to give up, Holtzmann squeezed her hips gently, before using her own to force Jac to move. “See! You’re getting it.”

 

“Holtzmann.”

 

Moving her hands from Jac’s hips, the brunette immediately missing the contact, Holtzmann trailed her fingertips slowly up the other woman’s arms and then back down to her hands. Before Jac knew what was happening, she felt her friend entwining their fingers and lifting them into the air above their heads.

 

“Add the hips…” The husky whisper and warm breath on her ear made her shiver as the blonde released one of her hands and returned it to Jac’s hip, which appeared to moving of its own accord. “I think you’ve got it.”

 

Just as she was getting used to the movement and her heart was slowly returning to a slightly more normal rate, Holtzmann twirled away without warning, grinning broadly. The sudden loss of contact made Jac almost gasp for breath, but she restrained herself quickly. She watched as the blonde slung an arm around Abby’s shoulders and pulled her close to say something in her ear. Both women looked over at Jac and Holtzmann looked on proudly as Abby clapped her hands, both of them grinning at her.

 

“She _does_ dance!” Patty exclaimed, grabbing her hand, twirling her round. “Holtzy is a good teacher, baby.”

 

Jac nodded and smiled, allowing herself to be swept along with her friends. She did not fail to notice Holtzmann dancing with another blonde, wrapping herself closely around the other woman’s frame, her hands seemingly everywhere at once. Forcing herself to turn away, Jac smiled at Abby and Patty, who seemed to be in the midst of choreographing some form of elaborate dance routine. Spotting her watching, they dragged her closer to join in.


	5. Chapter 5

Abby blinked experimentally a couple of times, testing her tolerance to the morning light, before slowly raising her left arm and then her right. Satisfied by the results of her preliminary tests, the scientist pulled herself into a seated position and winced, rubbing the back of her neck and looking around. She was sitting in the chair at Erin's desk and, judging from the small puddle of drool on the surface, it was where she had slept. Another sweep of the room showed her that Patty was still fast asleep, stretched out on the threadbare couch and Holtzmann was facedown on the rug in the middle of the floor. From the soft snores coming from her direction it was safe to say she was still alive.

 

Stumbling towards the small kitchenette, Abby turned on the coffee machine, putting her head in her hands as she waited for it to brew. She had absolutely no idea where Erin, Kevin or Jac could have got to and that worried her immensely. Having taken on the role of 'group mother' more by default than anything else, she felt responsible for the wellbeing of her friends at all times. Not knowing where they were was making the pounding in her head much worse. The harder she tried to think, the more sketchy her memory of the night before seemed to get and she could barely remember anything after the fourth round of shots. Fumbling in the cupboard for some painkillers, she swallowed a couple before turning to pour herself a mug of coffee.

 

An odd scuffling sound from above caught her attention and she groaned quietly. The last thing she needed that morning was to deal with any ghostly beings who had decided to visit the fire station and cause chaos. That, though, would probably have been preferable to the possibility that they had left the fire station unlocked and were in the process of being robbed.

 

Unable to ignore the sound, however, she cursed under her breath and realised that she was the only one in a position to do anything about it. Unsure which of the options she would prefer, she considered her tactics for dealing with either situation. Sighing, knowing she shouldn’t put it off much longer, Abby placed her mug on the counter and made her way slowly towards the stairs, grabbing a proton pack as she went, just in case.

 

“OK, I have one hell of a hangover and I am not in the mood for–” She started as she walked into the room that the engineers had completely taken over.

 

“Sorry, was I making too much noise?” Jac asked, stopping what she was doing to look at the older woman and reaching over to turn down the volume on the stereo.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“I had an idea.” The engineer told her excitedly, pushing against the floor with one foot and sending her chair whizzing across the room towards Abby. “It just came to me when we were walking back last night... or this morning, I guess.”

 

“Wait?” Abby held up a hand to stop her, her stomach lurching dangerously as the younger brunette whizzed towards her. “You haven’t slept? Are you still drunk? If you’re still drunk I don’t think you should be experimenting with potentially deadly bits of equipment. Especially the nuclear ones or the potentially nuclear ones… and the questionable ones.”

 

“No, no…” Jac shook her head. “I sobered up pretty quick. I’m safe.”

 

“That’s what Holtzmann says and then she sets fire to things and causes explosions.”

 

The younger woman laughed, stopping abruptly and apologising as Abby winced. “I really am fine.”

 

“What’s this idea, then?” Abby asked, dumping the proton pack on the floor and gingerly settling herself on the free chair beside Holtzmann’s workbench.

 

“Well…” Jac spun round on her chair to look at the other woman, making Abby’s stomach lurch again. “You used beta radiation to reverse the polarity of the vortex during the whole ‘apocalypse’ situation, right?”

 

“I assume Holtz has been telling you about it.”

 

“She may have mentioned it once or twice, yeah.” Jac agreed with a smirk. “Anyway, that got me thinking about whether we could create a more portable version of that vortex. I mean being able to send ghosts straight back to where they came from would be pretty handy, right?”

 

“Yes, it would.” Abby agreed. “But how... a portable vortex?”

 

“That’s the plan. I’m using your book to help me with the formulas. The execution is a little more complex than I’d expected, though.”

 

“You thought it would be simple?”

 

Jac laughed. “Of course not. I just didn’t think it would be quite this hard. I can’t seem to get the differentials to match up.”

 

“I’m not even going to pretend that I’m in any fit state to help at the moment. Give me a couple of cups of coffee and some pizza and I'll have a look.”

 

“Thanks. I could really do with Holtzmann’s input too, but I’m guessing she’s still flat on her face on the floor?”

 

Abby chuckled, climbing out of the chair and heading for the door. “Yeah... She looks positively angelic.”

 

“I severely doubt that.”

 

“Oh...” Abby paused momentarily distracted as a half-formed possible flashback assaulted her senses. “Any idea where Erin and Kevin have got to?”

 

Jac shot her a look. “Erin was pretty adamant that they could get themselves home, so we left them to it at about three.”

 

“Was that sensible?”

 

“You seemed to think so at the time.” The younger woman shrugged. “I vividly remember some pretty enthusiastic cheering, Holtz yelling ‘no glove, no love’ and then you going into an in depth ramble about the pros and cons of various methods of contraception.”

 

“I didn’t?” Abby flushed with embarrassment.

 

“It was pretty informative, I’m not gonna lie. If there was any danger of me getting pregnant, I’m now able to make a very informed decision about how to prevent it.”

 

“Oh, God...”

 

“Actually, I think Patty was taking notes.”

 

“Stop. Now. Please.” The older woman ordered.

 

“No, honestly, you made some really good points. There was a comment about baby bumps and unstable radioactive devices in there somewhere.”

 

“Jac, stop. Seriously.”

 

“OK, OK!” She held up her hands in defeat. “I was just trying to reassure you that it was cool, but whatever. Are you OK about it?”

 

“About what?” Abby asked, immediately looking away.

 

“Erin and Kevin. I mean… you seemed a bit sad when we left last night.”

 

“I thought I was giving them contraceptive tips.”

 

“Yes… but slightly aggressively.”

 

“Yeah? Well, I’m fine about it.” Both Abby’s expression and tone were entirely unconvincing, but Jac decided to move past it. “So, you and Holtz...”

 

“Me and Holtz, what?”

 

“You and Holtz. I saw the dancing.”

 

Jac sighed. “You’re as bad as Kevin.”

 

“He may be pretty dumb, but he can be quite perceptive.”

 

“Really? In the twenty-nine very long years I’ve known him I’ve never picked up on that small fact.”

 

“No.” Abby shrugged. “But you and Holtz.”

 

“There is no me and Holtz.” Jac informed her bluntly. “Which I’m pretty sure the blonde she was wrapped around last night will attest to.”

 

“Jealous?”

 

“Of course not.”

 

“You sound jealous.”

 

“I am not jealous! I’m just trying to figure this out and I could do with a bit of help with this theory. I severely doubt I’m going to get it any time soon.”

 

“Whatever you say, Jacqueline.”

 

Mock-glaring at the older woman, Jac waited until Abby had left the workshop in search of somewhere to curl up and ride out the worst of her hangover, leaving her alone once more. Stiffening slightly, the brunette briefly felt as though her insides were trying to force their way out of her body, before there was a soft popping sound and the ghostly figure of her girlfriend appeared in front of her.

 

“That was close.” Katie said, smiling mischievously. “Imagine if we hadn’t heard her clumping up the stairs.”

 

“Hey…” Jac frowned. “She wasn’t clumping. Those proton packs are heavier than they look.”

 

The ghost rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on… you aren’t actually supposed to like these people, remember? You’re here to work on something to bring me back. You said that if you came here, to New York, you’d be able to draw on these Ghostbusters and their resources to find a way.”

 

“I know that. I am trying.”

 

“Are you?”

 

“Katie…”

 

“Maybe the clumper was right.” Katie continued, ignoring Jac’s pleading expression. “Maybe you do have a thing for this Holtzmann. Maybe that’s why you’re not trying to find a way to help me.”

 

“Don’t be ridiculous… I just–”

 

“And what’s this about dancing? You don’t dance.”

 

“She didn’t leave me much choice.” Jac sighed. “But like I said to Abby, there is nothing going on between me and Holtzmann.”

 

There was a pause while the ghost scrutinised her carefully. Uncomfortable with the burning gaze, the engineer busied herself at her workbench, continuing to work on the idea she’d outlined to Abby.

 

“You know… maybe I should keep an eye on you all the time?”

 

Jac glanced up quickly, horrified at the thought. “But you only just realised you could… you know…”

 

“Inhabit your body?”

 

“Yeah, that…” Jac tried hard not to shudder. “But we don’t know what effect it’ll have on your energy. I think maybe you should–”

 

“I think maybe _you_ should leave the ghost stuff to me and get on with figuring out how to give me a physical presence.” Katie snapped. “It’s your fault I’m in this position, anyway.”

 

Tears sprung to the other woman’s eyes. “That’s not fair.”

 

“No, _this_ isn’t fair.” The ghost replied, motioning to her translucent body. “You promised me you’d fix this.”

 

“I will.”

 

“So fix it.”


	6. Chapter 6

Erin frowned as she walked onto the second floor of the firehouse and found Jac sitting, cross-legged in the middle of the tiny amount of clear space that could be found there. The brunette seemed to be screwing her eyes tight against the light and her hands were resting on her knees, palms facing the ceiling, as though she were meditating.

 

For a while, the older woman just watched, afraid of startling her new colleague out of whatever trance she was in. Erin watched the slow, rhythmic rise and fall of Jac’s chest as she breathed deeply. After a good few minutes, just when the physicist was beginning to worry about looking like a creep if Jac opened her eyes and caught her staring, the brunette let out a sharp sigh and rolled her head on her neck. Blinking several times, Erin told herself that she was just imagining that the younger woman was levitating several inches off the ground because that would be impossible.

 

“Jac?” She stepped forward, wincing lightly as the other woman jerked at the sound of her voice. “Abby wants to see us all downstairs. Patty might have something on the bakery ghost.”

 

Nodding, Jac sent her a broad smile and stood up. She stretched out her arms behind her and rolled her head on her neck as she took several steps towards where Erin was lingering in the doorway, nudging the older woman with her shoulder.

 

“What?” She asked, when the other woman was slow to respond to her grin. The smile she did receive from Erin was less than enthusiastic. “Is something wrong?”

 

“No. I just… I don’t get you.” She blurted out suddenly.

 

“You don’t get me?” Jac frowned lightly, not understanding what she meant.

 

“No, I don’t.” Erin admitted. “You’re… strange.”

 

Jac laughed, shaking her head and jumping down the two remaining steps that led down to the first floor. “You’re not the first person to take that view and I doubt you'll be the last. But… I mean, you’re a paranormal researcher and a Ghostbuster, so…”

 

“Why did you decide to move to New York? You’ve never actually said.”

 

“Why not?” The younger woman shrugged. “This is the big apple… apples are my favourite fruit.”

 

“So you based your decision to move thousands of miles, to a continent where the only person you know is Kevin, on fruit?”

 

Jac shrugged again. “It’s as good a reason as any.”

 

“And your interest in the Ghostbusters is purely down to what Kevin has told you?”

 

“What else would it be?” Turning to face her, her hand gripping the handle that would lead them into the main space where the others were congregated, Jac fixed her with an almost knowing look. “Suspect me of having ulterior motives or something?”

 

Erin scoffed, although there was something about the look in Jac’s eyes that made her a little uneasy. “Of course not. I was wondering whether the media attention had anything to do with it?”

 

“I can honestly assure you that I have absolutely no interest in the media hype.”

 

With a smile, Jac yanked the door open and stood aside to let Erin in ahead of her. She wasn’t sure why, but the older woman couldn’t deny the wave of relief that washed over her at the realisation that she was no longer alone with the newcomer to their ranks. She still couldn’t bring herself to completely reject what she’d thought she’d seen just before she startled Jac enough to bring her back to herself, even though she knew it was completely impossible.

 

“… you even listening to me?” Abby huffed, glaring at Erin who jerked in surprise at the realisation that four pairs of eyes were watching her intently.

 

“Yes, of course I… No.” She shook her head. “No, I was distracted, sorry.”

 

“Lover boy isn’t even in the room.” Holtzmann teased her, grinning widely. Jac shot a quick look in Abby’s direction, the sudden frown on her face going further to support the younger woman’s theory.

 

Erin glared at Holtzmann before turning back to the rest of the team. “Sorry. What were you saying?”

 

“The bakery. It’s burnt down three times since it was built in 1805.” Patty repeated, shooting Erin a disapproving look. “Six people have been killed there, so we’ve got six potential identities for the ghost, currently terrorising the building.”

 

“Anyway of narrowing it down?” Erin asked, eager to show she was paying attention now. “I mean, if we can get a better idea of–”

 

“D’you think I’ve been napping all morning or something, girl?” Patty demanded irritably.

 

“No, of course not. I– sorry.”

 

Jac cleared her throat. “Holtzmann and I have been working on an upgrade of the portable containment unit. As well as increased capacity–”

 

“For your larger framed entity.” The blonde chipped in with a grin.

 

“–and a strengthened locking mechanism, we’re hoping it will actively assist in dragging the ghost inside.” The brunette engineer finished, ignoring the interruption.

 

“There’s a gravity point in the centre of the inner compartment which will help to lock on to the ghost’s signature.” Holtzmann explained. “Stop those tricky so and so’s wiggling their way out of the box.”

 

“Ooh!” Abby looked excitedly between them. “Is this that vortex tech you were telling me about yesterday?”

 

“Partly.” Jac nodded. “I’m still straightening out the finer parts of that particular device at the movement.”

 

“Have you figured out the configuration for those tracker pods yet?” Erin asked curiously, looking between the two engineers.

 

“My glamorous assistant was all over that.” Holtzmann informed her, waving her hands in a flourish towards the youngest member of their team. “She’s using the experience to add to her stalking repertoire. I mean, with constant access to our specific whereabouts using the GPS in these babies, who’s to say what she'll get up to. You and Kev will have absolutely no secrets soon.”

 

Ignoring the blonde’s self-satisfied chuckling and Erin’s answering scowl, Jac stood up and moved to rummage on the workbench they shared on the first floor. She picked up five metal eggs, throwing one to each of the Ghostbusters as she said their names, before picking up a slab of bronze metal and sitting back down with her own pod. Twisting it carefully, she separated the top from the bottom, opening it with a slightly hydraulic hiss, to reveal a tiny chip and a LCD screen. The numbers on it were fixed and a quick look at each other’s eggs revealed that they all displayed the same reading.

 

“Each pod transmits a signal which is received by this hub.” Jac explained quickly, holding up the bronze slab in her hand. When it was turned in their direction, the other women could see that it bore some resemblance to an iPad, with a large screen that seemed to be asleep at that moment. “The signal is constantly being emitted from there and being logged on here. If anything happens to the pods and the signal stops a warning would be sent, via here, to the other pods. Holtz?”

 

Nodding, the blonde fiddled with the chip in her own egg and immediately the screen on the tablet in Jac’s hands lit up, the Ghostbusters logo flashing and Holtzmann’s name written underneath, accompanied by a loud, persistent beeping. Shimmying across the room, with added hip shaking, the blonde tapped a code into a panel that was screwed onto a block of wood sitting on the workbench and the beeping and flashing stopped immediately. Pushing the chip back into place, Holtzmann trapped a screwdriver between her teeth as she secured the technology and then screwed a protective cover securely over it.

 

“As you can see, I can get a location for the last place Holtzmann was before her pod was tampered with.” Jac explained tapping at the tablet and indicated the fluorescent green star that was growing and shrinking on the map that had appeared on the screen. “Sorry about the obnoxious colour, _Jillian_ insisted that the brighter we could make it the better.” Holtzmann sent her a broad, toothy grin in reply. “There’s also a panic button, located on the bottom of the pod which has the same effect.”

 

“Damn, girl, that’s impressive…” Patty exclaimed, examining her egg and finding the small, raised bump on the bottom and pressing it. Immediately, the tablet started flashing and beeping, with her name on it this time instead of Holtzmann’s. “Sorry… I got a bit overexcited.”

 

“No worries, boss lady.” The blonde assured her, fingers flying over the control panel once more to stop the alarm. “At least we know it all works the way we expected it to.”

 

“What do we call these things?” Abby asked, waving her egg at the engineers.

 

Holtzmann jumped in before her colleague could. “I like to call them treggs… tracker eggs… get it?”

 

“I don’t. I don’t like calling them that, at all.” Jac muttered as Patty laughed and high-fived the blonde. “But Holtz can hold a handstand for longer than I can, even hungover, so she won that particular argument.”

 

Patty shook her head. “I don’t even wanna know the logic behind that comment.”

 

“We’re still working on them.” The youngest member of the team continued. “There are so many upgrades we can make; communication between the pods, remote access triggering of the alarm, increased detection range…”

 

“I love it when she talks dirty.” Holtzmann announced, resting her chin on her palm and sighing theatrically.


	7. Chapter 7

“For the love of the gods, Holtz! Why?”

 

Erin glanced up briefly as a shout from the floor above was followed by footsteps on the stairs and then a blur of colour flashed past her. Arching an eyebrow at the huge burn mark that covered most of the front of Jac’s shirt, unintentionally revealing rather a lot of flesh, she twisted her chair around to watch the younger woman’s progress across the room. As Jac crouched down, rooted around in the bag she had started bringing to work and had just retrieved from down the side of the threadbare couch on the opposite side of the room, Erin watched her carefully. Pulling out an oversized t-shirt, the younger woman yanked her destroyed shirt over her head and dropped it to the floor beside her, turning to fix the physicist with a frown.

 

“I just really wish Holtzmann would stop burning holes in my clothes.” She announced, slipping the new top over her head. “I’m gonna take to walking around topless soon, just to avoid my entire wardrobe going up in flames.”

 

“Third time this week, isn’t it?” Erin asked, barely concealing her grin.

 

“And it’s only Tuesday morning.” Jac agreed.

 

“What was it this time?”

 

The younger woman held up a mug, wordlessly offering her colleague a drink. Receiving a nod in response, she set about making coffee. “She’s building something to allow us to physically grasp ghosts. A sort of… solidifying glove?”

 

“Huh?” Erin wrinkled her nose as she considered what the engineer was trying to achieve. “But by their very nature they’re–”

 

“Tell me about it.” Jac agreed, handing over a mug and dropping down to sit cross-legged on the floor at the other woman’s feet. “So far she’s succeeded in shattering several glasses, disintegrating a wrench and setting my shirt on fire. She swears she was reaching for the screwdriver that was beside me and has no idea how she managed to damage me in the process.”

 

“You don’t believe her?”

 

“Would you?”

 

Erin grinned. “Fair point. She probably just wanted to see what would happen.”

 

“She’s determined to crack it.” Jac continued, stretching her legs out in front of her. “Not that I blame her. It’s a fascinating concept… Imagine if we could physically get hold of them.”

 

“It would be pretty amazing. I’m just not sure if it’s doable.”

 

“If anyone can do it, Holtz can.”

 

“Holtz can do what?” The woman herself asked, slipping into the room and looking between the two brunettes with her hands pushed deep into the pockets of her overalls. She winked at the younger of the two. “There are lots of things I can do, but so far you’ve said no to all of them.”

 

“Destroy more of my clothes than anyone else.”

 

“Given half the chance I can think of more interesting ways to achieve that outcome than with welding torches and unstable technology.” The blonde replied with another salacious wink. “I did say sorry, though, and I said you should wear overalls up there.”

 

“I might if you didn’t crank the heating up so high.” Jac retorted. “It’s like you do it on purpose so I don’t wear the overalls and you can set fire to my clothes.”

 

“Would I?” Holtzmann asked, pressing her hand to her chest and pretending to be offended as her friend grinned at her broadly.

 

“Now, now, children.” Abby appeared around the corner with Patty in tow, sandwich bags and cans of soda in their arms. “Lunch now. Pretend arguments later.”

 

“I’ve got something to show you after lunch anyway.” Holtzmann shrugged. “I’ve got presents.”

 

“Hell yeah!” Patty beamed at her. “Whatcha got me this time, Holtzy baby?”

 

“Wait and see!” The blonde winked.

 

“Oh… damn it!” Jac clapped a hand to her forehead. “Holtz, the disintegration buttons are at my apartment.”

 

“We can save those until tomorrow. It’s no biggie.”

 

Shaking her head, the brunette reached for her jacket. “No, I’ll go and get them. I only live a couple of blocks away. The sooner we test them the sooner we can replicate the technology and I know how much you were looking forward to showing them off.”

 

Agreeing that it would be beneficial, Holtzmann waved her off, promising to make sure there was some food left when she returned to the fire station. Hurrying through the streets, Jac let herself into her building and then into her apartment.

 

“What are you doing back?” Katie demanded, appearing at her side immediately. “Shouldn’t you be figuring out our problem?”

 

“I am.” Jac assured her weakly. “I need those buttons. We’re running a test this afternoon so that we can–”

 

“I don’t care.” Her girlfriend cut across her. “All I care about is that you–”

 

“Yes, I know.” With a sigh, the engineer gathered up the devices she’d been tinkering with the evening before and headed for the door. “I won’t be late.”

 

There was a soft swooping sound and Jac found her path blocked by the blue-tinged form of the other woman. “Not so fast. I think I’ll come with you… see how you’re doing.”

 

“Katie, you–”

 

Before she could finish her sentence, the ghost collided with her body, disappearing from sight. It seemed as though every time Katie possessed her, her strength increased and Jac’s ability to keep control weakened. It was the strangest sensation, being able to see and hear, but not able to determine what she said or did. It was like being trapped inside her own body.

 

She returned to the fire station, depositing the disintegration buttons on the table and rolling her eyes when Patty ordered her to move them further away from the food. Jac barely said anything during lunch and only picked at her meal. The other Ghostbusters didn't seem to notice anything strange or, if they did, they didn’t mention it.

 

Finally, after a couple more hours of final tinkering, Holtzmann announced that it was present time and began gathering up prototypes that the two engineers had been working on. They led the way down to the alleyway behind the fire station – apparently Holtzmann felt that the best tests took place in alleyways because they were more authentic – laying their variety of devices out for the other three to admire.

 

“Think fast, Patt-attack.” Holtzmann threw the modified handgun in Patty’s direction. She laughed gleefully at the panic that shot across the other woman’s face as she fumbled with the weapon.

 

“Are you crazy?” Patty snapped. “Chucking a goddamn– ooh… this is light!”

 

“I reconfigured the internal workings,” the blonde explained with a nonchalant shrug, “condensed the mechanism and decreased the need for such substantial casing. Give it a whirl.”

 

Aiming at the trashcan at the other end of the alleyway, Patty closed one eye and squeezed the trigger. With a loud popping sound, a screech and then a bright flash of light, the gun backfired. Dropping to the ground with her arms and the gun held high above her head, Patty narrowly missed being blasted in the face by the streak of proton energy that blossomed from the wrong end of the barrel and shot through the air behind her.

 

Crying out in alarm, Abby dropped to the ground, covering her head with her arms. Holtzmann reached out and yanked Erin clear of the blast, sending the pair of them crashing heavily into the wall of the fire station. Jac curled into herself, wrapping her arms around her waist as the proton energy whipped past her, just inches to the left of her shoulder.

 

“Everyone OK?” Holtzmann called out, jumping into action and glancing around at her friends as she gingerly retrieved the gun from Patty’s still shaking hand and disarmed it. “Well, that was exciting, wasn’t it, gang? Good reflexes, Tolan.”

 

“What the hell was that, Holtzmann?”

 

She winced, rubbing the back of her neck as she met the historian’s eyes. “Sorry about that. Obviously didn’t quite balance the mechanisms…”

 

“Jac… you OK, baby?” Patty asked, realising that the younger woman was still standing behind her, seemingly frozen in place.

 

“Am I OK? What an absolutely stupid question.” She snapped. “That nearly hit me straight in the face. Do you think I’m OK?”

 

“Hey, it was an accident.” Erin tried to soothe her, stepping forward and laying her hand on Jac’s arm. She looked down at the point of contact when she realised how much the other woman was shaking. “Why don’t you–?”

 

Jac backed away, shaking her head. “I’m out of here. I’ve had enough for one day.”

 

Without looking back, she strode along the alley in the direction of the back entrance to the fire station, her arms still wrapped tightly around herself. The other four Ghostbusters watched her with varying expressions of surprise on their faces, wincing in sync as they heard the door slam with a loud bang.

 

“What was that about?” Abby asked, breaking the silence.

 

“I have no idea…” Erin shook her head, narrowing her eyes slightly as though she was trying to complete a particularly difficult calculation.

 

“Ain’t no reason for her to be pissed!” Patty muttered. “Holtzmann nearly killed me.”

 

“Hey!” The engineer held up her hands. “I had no idea it was gonna do that!”

 

“Yeah, well…”

 

“I’ll see if I can fix it so it doesn’t do that anymore.” Holtzmann promised, peering intently at the weapon in her hands.

 

“Don’t be doing me no favours now, baby girl.” Her friend retorted sarcastically.

 

They trudged back into the building, greeted by the sound of the phone ringing and the sight of Kevin spinning round on his chair and throwing pieces of popcorn into the air. They watched him in silence for a moment but, as the fifth piece of popcorn missed his mouth and bounced to the ground, Abby finally snapped.

 

“Kevin! Phone!”

 

“Yeah.” He agreed with a bright smile. “I heard it too.”

 

“Are you gonna answer it?”

 

“Oh yeah! Good idea!” As he reached for the handset the shrill sound stopped and, as one, the four women sighed in exasperation. “Oh… I wonder who that was.”

 

“Me too.” Patty said, rolling her eyes at him. “Imagine if someone had actually answered it. We’d probably have an answer to that one.”

 

“Yeah, we probably would.” Kevin agreed, nodding slowly. “Never mind, eh?”

 

Taking a deep, steadying breath, Abby motioned to the space behind them. “Where’s Jac?”

 

“Jac?”

 

“Yes, Jac…” Raising her hand to roughly in line with her own head, Abby shrugged. “About yay high, dark hair with red streaks, works with us… your cousin?”

 

“Oh! That Jac.” Kevin nodded knowingly. “She left.”

 

“Left?”

 

“Right.”

 

“Good one.” Holtzmann laughed, pointing at the slightly bemused receptionist.

 

“Yeah… no, she actually did leave.” He told her, completely missing the cause of her amusement. “Just before you came in. Said something about having stuff to do.”

 

“I don’t suppose you know where she lives?” Erin asked, realising that she had no idea where the younger woman went when she left the fire station. She had never actually asked about Jac’s life outside the Ghostbusters.

 

Kevin screwed up his face as he thought. “She has an apartment… It doesn’t have much furniture in it. Uncle Eddie said he saw it on Skype once and it lacked personality but Jac said she was barely there anyway, so it didn’t matter.”

 

“Fascinating as that is, Kev, do you have an address?” Abby asked, rolling her eyes at his waffling.

 

“Nope, sorry.” He shrugged. “But I did order pizza like you asked.”

 

Sighing, they congratulated him on remembering the request and thanked him for actually following it. Separating to go about their own business until their dinner arrived, the four women quickly forgot the oddness of their colleague’s behaviour.


	8. Chapter 8

Jac was filled with trepidation as she let herself into her apartment and locked the door behind her. Setting the portable vortex cube she had, incredibly carefully, carried home down on the coffee table in the centre of the living room she felt her girlfriend’s spirit zipping out of her body. Letting out her breath slowly, she steadied herself against the adverse effects of being possessed.

 

Patty’s new toy backfiring had been a terrifying moment, especially for the ghostly figure that had taken her over. While Jac was sure that she wouldn’t have escaped lightly had she been hit by the proton stream, it was Katie who had been truly in danger. After grabbing the vortex cube from the laboratory, Jac had hurried the several blocks back to her apartment, silent discussing what could have happened with her girlfriend and desperately trying to keep her plan out of her mind.

 

Surreptitiously looking around for Katie, relief sweeping through her when she realised that the ghost had left the room, Jac allowed the heel of her palm to press against the activation button, hearing the familiar whirring sound of the vortex portal starting up before she turned away and moved into the kitchen. She felt horrendous for what she was trying to do, but she knew that Katie was past help. She was far too strong to be controlled and had moved on from simply wanting a physical form back. The ghost had developed a venomous fury against the Ghostbusters and was determined to prevent them continuing with their task of ridding the city of ghosts.

 

Chewing on her lip, Jac retreated to the kitchen and started the coffee machine. Keeping her tone light, she called out to her girlfriend, starting to get concerned about where she was. Usually Katie was reluctant to let Jac out of her sight, as though she was able to read her thoughts and knew that she was planning something. It was worse when she hadn't accompanied Jac to the fire station. Then, the ghost was beside her as soon as she crossed the threshold, asking her about the progress she’d made and demanding to know what she'd been doing all day. The fact that the space around her felt empty and totally still was far from reassuring.

 

Just as she was reaching for the coffee pot and a mug, an ear splitting grinding sound and then a massive bang rippled through the air and Jac dropped the mug, which shattered on the tile floor. Not even thinking about the fragments of the last birthday gift her mother had given her, the woman darted into the living room, looking around wildly.

 

“What the hell–?”

 

“I could ask you the same thing.” A cold voice replied.

 

Turning, Jac found herself face to face with the blue-tinged figure of her girlfriend, hovering an inch or two off the floor and fixing her with an almost feral scowl. “What happened?”

 

“You tried to destroy me, that’s what happened!”

 

The engineer swallowed thickly, desperately hoping that her expression and voice weren’t about to betray her. “What? Of course I didn’t?”

 

“No?” Katie moved closer, reaching out towards her. Jac gasped as ghostly fingers dug into her shoulders more sharply than they ever had before. “So why did that thing try and suck me in as I passed?”

 

“I… I don’t know… it’s not supposed to… I told you I was gonna work on it later.” She stumbled over her words, desperately hoping that Katie didn’t realise that she had switched the device on and left it in the living room on purpose. “It’s not supposed to do that. It has to be programmed and activated and–”

 

With a shove that was more powerful than the brunette had been expecting, she tumbled backwards, landing awkwardly on the corner of the couch. Crying out in surprise and pain as the small of her back connected with the wooden arm rest, she simply watched as Katie glided across the floor and reached out tentatively towards the now smoking and sparking portable vortex cube. Her ghostly fingers closed gingerly over the device and, very carefully, she lifted it up. With a triumphant cry, she launched it at the opposite wall and laughed as it shattered on impact.

 

“Apparently I’m stronger than we thought.” Katie mused, glancing over her shoulder at the brunette. “Didn’t know I could do that.”

 

“That’s good.” Jac nodded firmly. “At least we know that when I get the technology working you’ll be strong enough to use it.”

 

“ _Are_ you working on it?”

 

“Of course!” Jac told her quickly. “I’ve only popped home to check you’re OK and drop that off…” She pointed to the now mangled device on the floor. “Holtzmann kept asking questions so I thought it would be easier to work on it here.”

 

“I don’t like her.” Katie snapped. “She’s too familiar with you… too flirty.”

 

“She’s like that with everyone. It’s not just me.”

 

“Whatever you say.”

 

Awkwardly, Jac chewed her lip. “I should get back. I just ran out… I’m sure they’ll be wondering what happened. And there are some simulations I want to run on the grabber to see if there’s a potential to transfer–”

 

“Running back to your new girlfriend, are you?”

 

“I’ve told you, it’s not like that. You’re my girlfriend. I love you. I’m doing all of this for you.”

 

“I’ve been inside your head, remember?” Katie reminded her venomously. “I’ve heard your thoughts when you’re with her… thinking about how good she is with her hands and wondering how that translates into other activities… wondering if her lips are as soft as they look… the scent of her shampoo… how beautiful she is, especially when she’s concentrating on something…”

 

“Stop it.” Jac snapped. “Stop doing this. I am here, with you, trying to develop technology to give you a more permanent physical form.”

 

“But you’d rather be there with her… with them.”

 

“No.”

 

“You’ve always been a shit liar.”

 

“I’m not lying.” The brunette tried to control her shaking and keep her expression and voice under control. “I want to do this for you… for us.”

 

“Get on with it, then…”

 

As Katie turned away disgustedly, Jac grabbed her keys and her purse and hurried towards the front door of her apartment, heading back out onto the street. She inhaled sharply as soon as she was out of her building, leaning heavily against the concrete of the wall as she forced herself to calm down.

 

She had been shocked by the power behind the ghost’s actions and knew that her strength was growing constantly. The outcome of Katie’s contact with the vortex cube had been so far from what she’d been expecting to happen that she wasn’t entirely sure how to process it and move forward with the device. There was no way Jac was going to scrap the idea; she knew it would work and be exponentially beneficial to the team in the future.

 

Making the short walk back to the fire station, Jac let herself into the building and went straight up to the first floor. She smiled weakly at Erin, who was perched on the edge of Kevin’s desk and swatting at his hands as they tickled her sides, before continuing up to the second floor. Holtzmann was bent over something on her workbench that appeared to be sparking wildly and, as she passed, Jac picked up a red canister with well-practised ease and extinguished the small fire quickly.

 

“Thanks…” Holtzmann murmured distractedly.

 

Considering the fact that Jac hasn’t even expected her to notice, she was pleasantly surprised. “No worries. Can’t have you burning the place down, can we? It was more for my benefit than yours.”

 

As she sank into her chair, the brunette winced as her bruised back came into contact with the unforgiving metal and she decided to stand instead. Rubbing the painful spot slowly with one hand, she reached for the plans of the device she’d been working on towards her. Narrowing her eyes she looked for the problem, realising that she would have to ask Erin or Abby to look over the formula for her if she stood any chance of fixing the issue.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

Jac jumped as Holtzmann’s voice sounded in her ear. “Huh?”

 

“Storming out like that… It was unexpected from you.” The blonde said. “Patty, yes. Drama is her middle name. Patricia Drama Tolan.” She contemplated something for a moment before nodding decisively. “I can see Erin throwing a strop too… possibly Abby as well. But you? Nah…”

 

“I’m tired, that’s all.”

 

“You hurt yourself or something?”

 

Jac frowned at the abrupt change of subject. “No. I’m fine.”

 

Quicker than she had imagined, the blonde grasped the hem of her shirt and tugged it upwards, exposing the purple-black bruise that was already blossoming across her flesh. “Holy shit. That’s not fine! How did that happen?”

 

“I fell, it’s nothing.”

 

“Pretty drastic fall.” Holtzmann muttered, moving across to the metal cabinet beside her primary workbench and rooting around inside it for a moment. “Arnica cream. It’ll help take the bruising down more quickly.”

 

Reluctantly the younger woman allowed her to smooth the cream gently across her skin with her surprisingly soft hands. For a split second her eyes slipped shut at the sensation, revelling in the feel of her touch. Then she remembered Katie’s threats and her eyes snapped open. Stiffening and batting Holtzmann’s hands away, Jac pulled her t-shirt back down and moved away hurriedly, putting as much space between them as she could and pretending to look for something in the pile of tools beside her bench.

 

“Jac?”

 

“There’s something wrong with this plan.” She said calmly, tapping the paper she’d been studying. “I can’t quite figure it out. I’m gonna go and ask Erin what she thinks.”

 

“What’s wrong with you?”

 

“You! I can’t…” Jac shook her head. “Just leave it, OK?”

 

Holtzmann held up her hands, a crestfallen expression on her face at the way the younger woman was shutting her out. She watched as the brunette grabbed the scrap of paper and fled in the direction of the stairs.


	9. Chapter 9

“Hit me.”

 

Holtzmann didn’t even glance up from what she was doing as she reached across the workbench and closed her fingers around the fire extinguisher she kept close. Tossing it behind her, she listened for the sound of it being deployed, before fully resuming her task. It had been nearly a week since Holtzmann had seen the bruises and Jac had bolted. Things between the two engineers had been, not exactly strained, but definitely less easy than normal since then.

 

“Ta.” Jac muttered, extinguishing the small fire that had leapt into life beside her without her realising. “How you doing?”

 

“I’m good, thanks, Joey.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Turning in her seat, the blonde sent her an incredulous look. “Oh, come on? Joey Tribbiani. How you doing?”

 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

 

“Don’t tell me you’ve never seen _Friends_.”

 

Jac shrugged. “I’ve seen bits and pieces.”

 

“You are seriously in need of education.” Holtzmann told her incredulously. “I think this is on par with your ludicrous opinion that Edison would have been able to sort his inefficiency problems without Tesla’s help.”

 

“That shocking, huh?”

 

“Yes, totally that shocking.” The blonde nodded sharply. “It is a modern classic. I will introduce you to a world of delight… and maybe we’ll watch _Friends_ too.”

 

Jac laughed. “You’re incorrigible.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“Am I forgiven?”

 

Holtzmann frowned at her. “What for?”

 

“Snapping at you the other day. I’m sorry, I know you were just concerned. I just… I was a bit stressed out.”

 

“It’s forgotten.” Her friend assured her. “I know you’ll talk to me about it when you’re ready. Besides, I can’t stay mad at you with your face. What can I say; I’m a sucker for beautiful women.”

 

“You’re such a flirt.”

 

“I try.”

 

“So, how you doing?” Jac asked, relieved that Holtzmann wasn’t one for holding grudges. Then she grinned, realising she’d have to elaborate as her friend winked at her. “With the coms system.”

 

“I think it should be fine. The build up of static electricity has been diverted so we shouldn’t be shocked every time we receive an incoming call now.”

 

“That was getting a little irritating.” Jac agreed, holding out her hand to accept the tiny device, like an earplug, that Holtzmann was holding out to her. “Can we try it out?”

 

“Gimme a couple of minutes. I’m starving.”

 

Rolling her eyes, but smiling fondly all the same, the brunette watched as the older woman waltzed towards the stairs and disappeared from view. She twisted in her chair for a moment, before reaching for the communication device that Holtzmann had been tinkering with. Pushing it firmly into her ear, she twisted her head experimentally, wincing as she prepared herself for the electric shocks that usually accompanied wearing the device.

 

“You still think she’s not trying to get into your pants?” A familiar voice hissed in her head.

 

Jac squeezed her eyes closed. “No, love, she’s not. That’s just Holtzmann.”

 

“Or maybe you want to get into her pants.”

 

“Why would I want that?” The brunette protested, forcing herself to believe what she was saying in order to convince Katie that she meant it. “I’m trying to work out how to help you.”

 

Outside in the hallway, Erin caught Abby’s arm and nodded her head towards the door, which was pulled to, but not completely closed. Inside she could still hear the soft, one-sided conversation that had caught her attention in the first place.

 

Shooting her best friend a confused look, Abby shrugged. “What?”

 

“Who’s she talking to?”

 

“Holtz?”

 

Erin shook her head. “No, she’s downstairs with Patty trying to see which of them can fit the most marshmallows in their mouth.”

 

“Phone call?”

 

“She’s not holding a phone! You can see both her hands.”

 

Leaning past her friend, Abby looked more closely at the engineer who was standing at one of the workbenches with her back to them. She reached across the surface for a screwdriver with one hand, the other holding a large sheet of Perspex steady. As the scientist watched, she clearly heard Jac speaking to someone and couldn’t argue with Erin’s statement about the younger woman being unable to hold a cell phone.

 

“But that’s not… No.” They heard the woman saying from inside the room.

 

“Maybe she’s talking to herself?” Abby suggested, peering through the gap. “You know? Verbalising her thoughts?”

 

“I didn’t mean to do that. I’m sorry. What do you want me to do?”

 

Abby scrunched up her face as Jac’s one-sided conversation continued. “Maybe not.”

 

“Who do you think she’s talking to, then?” Erin asked in a hushed tone.

 

“I… I can’t…” The slightly pleading tone to Jac’s voice caught their attention and made both women lean closer to the door. “Please just let me… They’re my friends and I don't want to… please don’t say that… please don’t.”

 

“I can’t just stand here anymore.” Erin muttered and, before Abby could stop her, she placed her hand on the door and pushed.

 

Her best friend had a second to make a decision about what she was going to do. Almost without her permission, Abby’s feet carried her into the room behind Erin and she found herself staring into the shocked face of the woman they’d just been spying on. In her surprise, she had whirled around, dropping the screwdriver and Perspex with a loud thud and was staring at them open mouthed.

 

“What are you…? What…? Why…?” She blurted out, her eyes darting between them rapidly and her cheeks as red as the streaks in her hair.

 

“Who were you talking to?” Erin asked before Abby could come up with something less direct.

 

“I… No one in particular.” Jac shrugged. “My father.”

 

“But… no cell phone?”

 

“No, I…” She reached up and plucked a tiny silver device out of her ear. “Holtz made it… it’s like a hands free… communication device thing.”

 

The two older women blinked at her for a moment, clearly wondering whether to believe her. Abby decided that it would be easy enough to ask Holtzmann about it and shrugged. “Sounded heavy.”

 

“Mmm…” Jac nodded in agreement, clearly already miles away in her thoughts and unwilling to elaborate any further.

 

“Anything we can do?”

 

“No, I… I’m good. Thanks.” The engineer nodded distractedly. “Actually, can you… can you ask Holtz where she put the plans she drew up for the disintegration projector?”

 

“You two made up, then?”

 

“We never fell out. Not really.”

 

“Coulda fooled us.”

 

“Is it urgent?” Abby asked, glancing at Erin who appeared to want to stay and find out more information. “Asking Holtz about the plans, I mean.”

 

“Kinda…” Jac murmured, prodding at the circuit board in front of her warily. “This is either going to work or blow up half the block…”

 

“Pretty urgent, then.” Abby nodded, grabbing Erin by the wrist. “We’ll send Holtz up.”

 

As the two women disappeared through the door, Jac could hear them whispering to each other and put her head in her hands. She sighed deeply, focusing on her breathing until she calmed down enough to resume what she was doing. There was nothing wrong with the circuit board in front of her; in fact she hadn’t done anything to it since Holtzmann had gone downstairs in search of snacks.

 

“Do you think they believed you?” The almost mocking voice in her head asked.

 

Jac picked the Perspex up again. It was just reflective enough that she could make out her face, but not so much that anyone else would be able to do so. As she had expected, her features morphed in front of her eyes and she found herself looking into the face of her, dead, former girlfriend.

 

“They did. I’m sure they did.”

 

“Good, because I would hate to think they’re becoming even more of a threat.”

 

“They’re not a threat at all.” Jac blurted out hastily.

 

“Who’s not a threat?” Holtz demanded, bounding into the room and starting to flick through the piles of papers on the workbench beside her colleague. Her eyes fell on her sketch of the circuit that was sitting in front of them. “Oh, you found it?”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“The plan of the disintegration projector?”

 

“Oh, right, yeah.” Jac nodded, relieved that Holtzmann already seemed to have forgotten about the threat question. “Does this look right to you?”

 

“Everything about you looks right, baby girl.” The blonde flirted, winking at her as she leant a little closer than was strictly necessary as she checked over the wires.

 

“Is she for real?” Katie muttered inside Jac’s head. “Aren’t you going to answer me?”

 

“Mmmm…”

 

Holtzmann glanced at her quickly, their faces far too close together for comfort. “Mmmm?”

 

“Just thinking.” The younger woman told her, leaning back in her chair.

 

“What about?” The blonde asked, smirking at her. “Something dirty? I bet it’s something dirty. Is it a sex thought?”

 

Jac frowned. “Why would it be a sex thought? Maybe I’m planning how to attach the viewing disk to the containment unit without fusing the hinges.”

 

Holtzmann considered her for a moment, before breaking into a broad grin. “You’re not thinking about the containment unit.”

 

“Says who?”

 

“Says me.”

 

“What do you know, anyway, _Jillian_?”

 

“I know everything.” She teased, winking again. “I am an expert on women and I know, unequivocally, when they are having sex thoughts.”

 

“You do not.” Jac laughed.

 

“No, I do.” Holtzmann told her with a shrug. “The easiest one is Erin. I mean… it’s practically any time she’s within ten feet of Kevin.”

 

“That’s my cousin, dude!” The younger woman protested, pushing her gently in the shoulder. “Gross!”

 

“So? Who was your sex thought about?”

 

“I wasn’t having a sex thought.” Jac repeated, forcing herself not to laugh but unable to stop herself smirking.

 

“I really don’t like her.” Katie’s voice sounded in her head. “I think she might be a threat to the plan.”

 

“What?” Holtzmann noticed the smile dropping quickly from her friend’s face. Leaning forward, she rested her hand lightly on the brunette’s forearm. “Hey? What’s wrong, J?”

 

“Oh, she’s got to go… I’m really gonna enjoy that.”

 

Standing up abruptly at the threat from her ghostly girlfriend Jac made an excuse, not entirely sure what she said, before grabbing her jacket and rushing out of the doorway and down the stairs. By the time Holtzmann made it to the top of the staircase she was just in time to see the younger engineer disappearing out onto the street. Patty appeared seconds later and glanced up the stairs to meet the blonde’s eyes, closely followed by Erin and Abby on the floor below.

 

Before they could even ask, Holtzmann held up her hands. “I literally have no idea, but I’m going to find out.”

 

She rushed out of the fire station, looking around wildly for a sight of the brunette, catching a glimpse of her turning a corner a little way ahead. Pushing her hands into her pockets, Holtzmann hurried to keep up enough so that she didn’t lose sight of the younger engineer before she worked out where her friend lived.

 

Bouncing on the balls of her feet as she waited for a gap in the flow of traffic to cross the road after Jac, Holtzmann craned her neck to work out which building the brunette had gone inside. Jogging through the stationary traffic, holding up a hand to apologise to a cabby who was forced to break as she darted out in front of his car, the engineer looked up at the apartment building that Jac had let herself into.

 

Unsure which apartment belonged to her friend and severely doubting that Jac would let her in even if she was already home, the woman jammed her whole hand over the buzzer buttons and waited impatiently for someone to unlock the door. As soon as the lock clicked she yanked the door open and darted inside, looking around for a clue as to where to go.

 

“Hey, sorry to bother you, but do you happen to know where Jacqueline Beckman lives?” She asked, grasping the arm of an elderly woman with a tiny dog clasped under her opposite arm. The dog growled until Holtzmann let go of her owner and took a step backwards. “Yikes. Sorry!”

 

“I can’t help, I’m afraid. I don’t know anyone by that name.”

 

“She’s about… this tall. Talks with a strange accent… kinda like an Aussie Welsh mash up? She’s got long brown hair with red streaks in it, big glasses… really hot in a nerdy sort of way…”

 

The woman looked at her with slight concern for a moment before answering. “That sounds like the girl in 7b. I don’t know her name and we don’t see her much. According to the man in the apartment below, she keeps odd hours and can be quite noisy.”

 

“That’s probably her.” Holtzmann nodded. “Thanks.”

 

Walking over to the lift, the blonde jabbed the button, shifting impatiently from foot to foot as she waited for the doors to open. Giving up after a couple of minutes she moved to the stairs instead, jogging up them and peering at the numbers on each level until she reached the one she was looking for.

 

“Jac?” Holtzmann knocked cautiously at the front door of the apartment with 7b emblazoned on it in gold. The number was slightly wonky and she absentmindedly reached out to straighten it. As her fingers made contact with the door, it swung open a little. “You in here, buddy?” Laughing softly to herself, she shook her head. “Of course you’re in here. This is your apartment. Where else would you be? Jacqueline? It’s Holtz. Ms Beckman? Jaccy Jac Jac?”

 

There was a click and the bathroom door opened, revealing the woman that Holtzmann was looking for. Jac froze at the sight of her colleague standing in the centre of her living room, staring at the board she’d set up against the opposite wall that was covered with sketches and plans and various other scraps of paper pertaining to her job. Holtzmann stepped forward, toying with the edge of a piece of paper covered in calculations detailing just how much voltage they could pump into the latest version of the ‘ghost grabber’, as Holtzmann had most recently dubbed it. There had been several names, but this one had stuck the longest.


	10. Chapter 10

“How did you get in here?” Jac demanded bluntly.

 

“Your door was open.” Holtzmann murmured, not tearing her gaze away from the board. “You should really lock it when you’re home. And when you’re not, actually. Locking the door is good. Why didn’t you say you’ve been working on this at home?”

 

“It’s your thing. I didn’t want to confuse the situation.” She replied, now staring at her front door. “I always lock the door. I vividly remember locking it.”

 

“It was definitely open… wide open.” The blonde told her. “It’s _our_ thing. For this to work, we’d have to assume that the composition of the entity wouldn’t react negatively with the charge.”

 

“Well, no, because charging both sides with different–” she broke off suddenly as a cold chill passed through her. “Holtzmann, you have to go.”

 

“Go? What? I just got here.”

 

“I know, but I… You should go.”

 

“Why? Worried you won’t be able to control yourself around me, hot stuff?” Holtzmann winked. “I thought you’d planned all this just to get me here on my own.”

 

“Holtz, please.” Jac almost begged. “You need to go. Now.”

 

“Got a hot date or something?”

 

“Something.”

 

Stepping closer to the younger woman, Holtzmann suddenly looked serious. “What’s going on? Erin’s worried that there’s something wrong.”

 

“Nope, nothing wrong.” Jac told her cheerily. “Please just–”

 

Frowning, the blonde moved even closer to her friend, thoroughly unconvinced by her act. She hadn’t managed to take two steps, however, before an invisible force barged into her. Letting out a shout of surprise, Holtzmann found herself flying backwards and colliding with the board she’d been examining just moments earlier.

 

“What the–?”

 

“Holtz!” Leaping across the room, Jac dropped to the ground beside her friend, hastily checking the back of her head for injuries. “Are you OK?”

 

“You have a ghost?” The blonde demanded, springing to her feet. “Since when?”

 

“I... I don’t have a ghost! Or I didn’t…”

 

“So this is a new development?” Holtzmann asked.

 

Jac avoided meeting her eyes as she nodded. “Mmm… Maybe you should get out of here.”

 

“I’m not leaving you here!” The blonde argued, shaking her head. “Come on.”

 

Interlacing their fingers, Holtzmann headed purposefully towards the door, dragging Jac behind her. They had barely taken two steps when the apartment door slammed shut. Seconds later they were yanked violently apart and the older woman found herself thrown across the room again. Letting out a cry as the air was forcefully knocked out of her lungs as she landed flat on her back, Jac struggled to her feet. She felt like she was walking through treacle as she fought her way across the room to her friend’s side.

 

“Holtz, are you OK?”

 

“I’m starting to think this thing doesn’t like me very much.” She ground out, waving away the younger woman’s concern as she clambered to her feet.

 

“Come on, we need to get out of here.”

 

“That would be easier if the door hadn’t been locked. Window?”

 

“Seventh floor, Holtz.” Jac reminded her.

 

In response to her words, the window in the opposite wall shot upwards and a cold breeze ripped through the room, ruffling the papers pinned onto the board and making both women shiver. Exchanging a look, they joined hands again and ran for the apartment door. As Jac fumbled with the latch, desperately trying to free them, Holtzmann kept her eyes peeled for any clue as to where the ghost may be.

 

Tumbling out into the hallway, Jac pulled the blonde with her and then hesitated, wondering what to do next. Holtzmann, however, had no such need to pause. She ran for the stairs, guessing that taking the lift would just be asking for trouble, dragging Jac along by their still joined hands. They didn’t stop until they reached the lobby of the building and pushed through the glass doors onto the street.

 

“OK…” Holtzmann fumbled in her pocket and retrieved her cell phone. “Call the troops.”

 

“What are you going to do?”

 

“I’m going up there to psych this sucker out.” The blonde announced. “Now that you’re safely out of there, I can–”

 

“Hang on…” Jac held up a hand. “Now that I’m safely out of there? I think you’ll find it was lovely and peaceful in my apartment until you came crashing in with your attitude and your hair and your… face. I think you’ll find it was you that caused the angry ghost to attack us.”

 

“My face?” Holtzmann grinned broadly. “What’s wrong with my face?”

 

“There’s nothing wrong with it, which is precisely the problem.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Jac shook her head quickly, mentally kicking herself for getting so flustered. “Just… I’ll go and see what’s going on up there. You call in the troops.”

 

“Don’t go inside.” The blonde ordered. “Check it out from the corridor, see if you can hear anything, but do not go into that apartment on your own. I'll be right up.”

 

Nodding, the younger woman hurried back into the stairwell and rushed towards her apartment. The door was swinging on its hinges as she walked towards it, the beat of _One Way or Another_ meeting her ears. Tentatively, Jac ignored Holtzmann’s instructions and pushed her way inside, looking for any sign of activity. She only just managed to duck in time as a photo frame came sailing through the air, launched straight at her head.

 

“Katie!”

 

A ghostly laugh seemed to wrap itself around her, accompanied by a cold breeze. “Like the music choice? I thought Blondie was fitting; this track especially. I expected your blonde friend to come back with you. We were going to play some games.”

 

“You have to leave for a while. Holtzmann has called the others… they’ll come in here all proton guns blazing to bust you. No ghost hurts one of us and sticks around to tell the story.”

 

“One of us?” Katie laughed. “You’re one of them now, for real, are you?”

 

“Katie…” Jac was forced to duck again as another photo frame sailed through the air in her direction.

 

A bang by the front door caused the brunette to whip round and see who had barged their way in. As she smiled weakly at Holtzmann, who looked more irritated and worried than Jac had ever seen her before, a freezing draft seemed to surround her and there was a sharp pain through her entire body, starting at her back and shooting through to her front. Guessing that it had been caused by Katie inhabiting her, the engineer struggled to keep a hold of herself and not allow the other woman to take over completely.

 

“I told you to stay outside!” Holtzmann reminded her, grabbing her arm tightly. “The others are coming straight– Blondie? You stopped to put on a CD?”

 

“I didn't.” She shook her head.

 

“One way or another, I’m gonna find ya, I’m gonna get ya?” The blonde quoted, arching an eyebrow. “Is that a threat or a promise?”

 

“Which would you prefer?” Katie asked with a smirk, taking control before Jac could stop her.

 

“Err…” Holtzmann looked at her strangely. “From a ghost, either way is, frankly, quite threatening.” Stopping, she picked up the second of the photo frames that had narrowly missed causing serious damage to Jac’s head. “This the ex?”

 

Plucking the picture from her grasp, Jac nodded sharply. “That’s Katie.”

 

“Pretty.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Shame.”

 

Katie’s energy surged forward, overpowering her and stopping Jac responding. “You don’t mean that. I can tell.”

 

“Didn’t know her.” Holtzmann pointed out with a shrug. “I’m sorry for you, obviously. But if she was still around you wouldn’t have come to New York or joined the Ghostbusters, so…”

 

“You never mentioned her before.” Jac pointed out. “I know Kevin told you. The others have all tried to talk to me about her, but you never have. Why?”

 

The blonde shrugged. “You never mention her either, so I guessed you weren’t up for talking about her.”

 

Finally winning the internal battle for control of her vocal chords, Jac opened her mouth to speak, but pounding footsteps and several clattering sounds and bangs prevented her from doing so. The two engineers turned sharply to look at the rest of the team, led by Patty who almost threw herself through the apartment door and stood with her proton gun raised, ready for battle.

 

“I explicitly told you to stay outside.” Abby reminded Holtzmann sharply. “You had no equipment, no backup, no–”

 

“It was my fault.” Jac jumped in quickly, unwilling to see the blonde take the blame for her actions. “I heard the music playing… never could resist Debbie Harry.”

 

“Do you realise how stupid this was?” The older woman continued, turning to Jac instead.

 

“Yes… I’m sorry… Sorry, Holtz.”

 

“Let’s just kick ghost butt, alright?” She suggested, squeezing the brunette’s forearm before motioning for the proton pack that Patty had slung over her arm.

 

“You go wait in the hall, OK, baby? We only brought one spare pack.” The historian told Jac, who was only too happy to do as she was told.

 

As soon as they were clear of the apartment, the sucking sensation, which she had felt countless times before, signalled that Katie was releasing her grip on Jac’s body. With a deep, stuttering breath, the brunette leant heavily against the wall as she allowed herself to settle after the intrusion. It was like all of her vital organs had been displaced and were forcing themselves back into their correct positions. Every time Katie possessed her the effects got stronger and stronger and it took longer for her to recover.

 

“I hate that feeling…” She mumbled. Receiving no answer, she craned her head for a glimpse of the ghostly figure that she’d become so accustomed to seeing. “Katie?”

 

“Stop whining.” Came the impatient reply. “It’s hardly fun for me, either. If you just got on with–”

 

“I’m trying!”

 

“Not hard enough. Too many distractions.”

 

Jac was about to protest, but the apartment door opened and the blue-tinged figure beside her forced her way back into her body. Standing up straight, rather than staying slumped against the wall, she watched as the four Ghostbusters walked towards her, looking slightly deflated.

 

“Did you get it?”

 

“Nah… ain’t no ghosty in there now.” Patty told her disappointedly.

 

“Your apartment is clear.” Erin agreed with a nod.

 

Abby held up a duffle bag that had remained unnoticed until she drew attention to it. “We got you some clothes and stuff. It’s probably best if you stay away for a while. We’ll check it out again in a few days.”

 

“I just love the fluffy pyjamas with the little koalas on them. Ridiculously cute and so very you.” Holtzmann teased her with a wink.

 

“You can stay in my spare room.” Abby told her with a warm smile.

 

“Oh, I don’t want to put you out. I’ll just sleep on the couch at HQ.”

 

Starting towards the staircase, Abby wafted a hand dismissively in her direction. “Don’t be silly. We talked about it and decided my place was the best offer. Erin, as you know, has recently acquired a Kevin, which requires a lot of attention. Patty has an incredibly obnoxious roommate who will probably hit on you–”

 

“And not want to take no for an answer.” Patty cut in quickly.

 

“And Holtz… well, your workshop looks organised and minimalist in comparison to Holtzmann’s apartment.”

 

“What can I say, I’m a collector.” The blonde announced proudly with a flourishing bow.

 

“You’re a hoarder, you mean.” Patty corrected her. “I would just love to get in there with a couple of garbage bags and–”

 

“No way!” Her friend stopped her with a wave of her hand. “That stuff is all completely necessary to my working process.”

 

“It’s not. It’s a junk yard.” Erin chipped in. “It’s also a health hazard.”

 

“Hazard schmazard.” Holtzmann shrugged.

 

“Can you even find your cat?”

 

“You have a cat?” Jac asked, her eyebrows shooting up. “I didn’t know that.”

 

“Nikola, yeah.”

 

“You named your cat after Nikola Tesla?”

 

“Duh…”

 

“I’d have gone Edison.”

 

“Of course you would.” Holtzmann snorted, elbowing her in the ribs and slinging the holdall over her shoulders as she headed for the stairs.

 

“You won't make me eat soup, will you, Abby?” Jac asked suddenly as they stepped out of her building and onto the street. “I mean, I know how much you love it, but I’m not really a fan. Especially now… it reminds me a bit too closely of Gilbert juice.”

 

Holtzmann snorted loudly at her words, while the other three women looked disgusted. “Gilbert soup.”

 

“I mean, slime. Sorry, Erin.”

 

“That’s…” Abby shook her head looking vaguely horrified. “That’s horrific. I think you just killed my love of soup.”

 

“I’ll add that to the list of deaths I've caused.” Katie forced Jac to say, before the brunette could stop her.

 

Shooting her a concerned look, Abby nodded her head in the direction of the fire station. “Let’s get this equipment back to HQ and then we’ll head home.”


	11. Chapter 11

“So, Fab Ab, this is a nice place you’ve got here.” Jac told her, looking around at the space. It was larger than hers and much more organised. Unlike her apartment, this one felt like a home rather than just somewhere to store things and catch a few hours sleep.

 

Luckily Katie had darted out of her as she had trailed out of the building after the other Ghostbusters, deciding that she would be better off staying there for now. Jac had promised to check in regularly with updates. The brunette felt freer than she had for a while, the realisation that she wouldn’t have the ghost breathing down her neck for a couple of days. Maybe she would have time to come up with a better plan to bust her if she had space to think properly.

 

“Thank you.” Abby smiled warmly at her. “Make yourself at home while I make some coffee.”

 

As she wandered away, Jac found her attention drawn to a row of photo frames sitting on the shelf above the fireplace. Most of them were clearly pictures of Abby’s family; mother, father and what appeared to be about six siblings. Right in the centre of the row was a photograph of teenage Abby with her arm clamped around teenage Erin, both of them beaming at the camera. Despite the bright smiles, both girls seemed awkward and uncomfortable as though they’d rather not be having their photo taken. Jac smiled fondly, recognising their expressions as being the same as in several of the newspaper clippings that were pinned up at the fire station.

 

“That’s the first photo that was ever taken of us together.” Abby explained as she handed over a mug of coffee, seeing where the younger woman’s gaze was directed. “It was my seventeenth birthday party… Erin was the only person that turned up, apart from my family, of course. I think my mom wanted to commemorate that fact that someone other than a Yates was there.”

 

“That bad, huh?”

 

“Yeah…” She shrugged. “It’s ancient history now, though. What about you?”

 

“I didn’t know Erin back then.” Jac joked. “I might not have even been born.”

 

“Cheeky.” Abby swatted at her. “You’re not that much younger than us.”

 

“I didn’t have an Erin, you know?” She smiled weakly. “Apparently I was quite a sociable kid until James, my brother died. I don’t actually remember because I was only six at the time. Then we moved to the UK and my mum died and I just… I kept myself to myself. It seemed easier than having to actually go out there and put myself in a situation where I might lose someone else.”

 

“I get that.” Abby nodded. She perched on the couch next to Jac, wary of making any sudden movements and spooking her. Now that she was talking about something that was important to her, the older woman was eager that it should continue for as long as possible.

 

“The one time I put myself out there… with Katie… it just…”

 

“You lost her.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“So I just don’t…”

 

Abby nodded in understanding. “That’s why you went into your apartment.”

 

“I didn’t want Holtz to risk it.” Jac looked away, concentrating on the mug of coffee in her hands. She ran her finger around the rim, staring at the almost untouched liquid inside. “I really like her, which is dangerous and which–”

 

“Which is why you’re trying to keep your distance?” Abby suggested. “Which is why you’re trying not to let Holtzmann realise that you have a massive crush on her? Or are you trying not to let her notice you’re gay?”

 

“You’re making fun of me.”

 

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

 

“Abby… I don’t want to… I shouldn’t have talked Kevin into… actually; I confused him into bringing me to the fire station… I talked at him until he said he had to go to work and didn’t question the fact I was going with him. I shouldn’t have done that. I should have just stayed–”

 

“You know, the Ghostbusters… we’re just a gang of misfits, really.” Abby told her gently, cutting off the younger woman’s slightly manic rambling. “We didn’t really have anyone else who would truly accept us for who we are and yet we’ve all found a family together.”

 

“And I intruded on that.” Jac sighed.

 

“No.” The older woman shook her head, putting down her mug of coffee and reaching for her hand. “No, you didn’t intrude. You’ve just made our family bigger. You’re a welcome addition.”

 

“Looks like you’ve got a big enough family as it is.” The younger woman nodded towards the copious photo frames on the mantelpiece, suddenly uncomfortable and trying to force attention away from herself.

 

“Family I _like_.” Abby emphasised with a warm smile. “Family that don’t try to make me act like someone I’m not.”

 

“Then I’m honoured to be part of that family.”

 

“What about your family? I mean… I know your brother and your mom… what about your dad?”

 

“He remarried and we don’t really talk much. It’s OK though; we never really had much in common anyway. He never got me… especially after James died.” She shrugged. “I’ve got Kev; he’s enough biological family for anyone. Why would I need anyone else?”

 

There was a long, comfortable pause while the two women sipped on their drinks and stared, unseeingly, at the news report on the television. Placing her mug down on the coffee table, Abby suggested that she made snacks, but Jac politely turned down the offer. Instead she asked about the spare room, saying that she was tired, following her friend on the brief tour of the apartment that ended outside the room that she was to 'think of as her own' for as long as she needed it.

 

“Abby…” Chewing on the inside of her lip, Jac wondered whether the question she wanted to ask was a step too far. “Erin…”

 

A closed, careful look appeared on Abby’s face. “Yes?”

 

“Holtz might have mentioned that you two have a history?”

 

“Yeah… that was a _long_ time ago.” She said with a smile that was apparently supposed to be reassuring, but came off more pained than anything. “Me and Erin are… friends. We’re best friends.”

 

“Are you convinced by that, because I’m not?” Jac told her bluntly. “You can try again, if you want? I’ve seen the way you look at her… the way she looks at you.”

 

“Jac.” There was a definite warning tone in Abby’s voice. “Stop.”

 

“No, seriously, Abby. Life is short. If you want Erin–”

 

“She’s with Kevin… your cousin? Remember him? The only biological family you need?”

 

“I love Kevin to bits, believe me. I’m Kevin’s number one fan and only defender at family gatherings.” Jac told her seriously. “But that means that I also _know_ Kevin better than anyone else. He’s sweet; the sweetest guy ever. But let’s face it, you and I both know that whatever’s going on between him and Erin isn’t going to last.”

 

“That’s… that’s hardly…”

 

“Yeah, I’m a bitch, I know. But it’s true, isn’t it? Erin will get fed up of Kevin, something shiny will distract Kevin, they’ll break up and they’ll both get over it. They’re hardly Elizabeth and Darcy.”

 

“Jac, I don’t want to talk about this right now.”

 

“OK.” Jac shrugged. “I won’t say anything about Erin, if you don’t mention that I said–”

 

Abby held up her hands. “I won’t say anything about your crush on Holtz to anyone.”

 

“Especially not–”

 

“Especially not Holtzmann herself.” The older woman promised. “Your secret is safe with me. Although… I’m not really sure how much of a secret it is. I’m pretty sure that at least Patty has already figured it out. Possibly Erin, too, although maybe she’s been too distracted by Kevin… and he has absolutely no idea.”

 

“Oh, god…” She groaned. “Holtz?”

 

“Not a clue. As flirty and in your face as she is, the girl is totally oblivious when women _actually_ like her.”

 

“Thank you, Abs…” Jac smiled at her friend, before pausing. "I have got one more question."

 

"Yes?"

 

"If we’re all one big, happy family," Jac started, a mischievous grin twisting her lips, "does that mean Kevin and Erin are committing incest?"

 

"Eww!" Abby pulled a face of complete disgust. "What? Gross! Oh my god! Why would you say that? Why?"

 

"Just wondering."

 

"Of course it’s not incest! There’s no… genetics… there’s no blood... we’re not biologically related."

 

“But if it _is_ incest then you and Er–?”

 

“I thought you were going to drop it.”

 

Jac laughed at the disturbed expression on the older woman’s face and leant in to kiss Abby on the cheek. "Night, Abs."

 

"Night, honey."

 

Abby hesitated outside the door for a couple of moments, wondering whether she should press the sore subject further with the younger woman. Then she decided that Jac would come to her in her own time and headed to bed herself.

 

* * *

 

 

When Jac wandered out of the guest bedroom at the apartment the next morning, dressed in the koala pyjamas that Holtzmann had picked out, she was taken aback to see the blonde slouching on the couch with one leg flung over the arm, watching the television and making her way steadily through a stack of pancakes. At once, the brunette froze at the sight, a million thoughts running through her head at once.

 

Hearing a clang from the kitchen, Jac carefully skirted the living room and backed out of sight. Abby turned with a frown as the younger woman walked into one of the stools at the island, putting out a hand to steady her as she wobbled on the spot.

 

“Hey, sweetie, sleep OK?”

 

“Yeah, thanks.” Jac replied distractedly, poking her head back around the corner to check that Holtzmann was still sitting on the couch. “I… what’s…?”

 

“Don’t worry, I haven’t said anything about last night’s conversation.” Abby assured her gently.

 

“Right…”

 

“Holtz has a key.” The older woman continued casually. “She wanted to check you were OK after last night. She cares about you, like we all do.”

 

“Obviously Holtz has a key to your apartment and lets herself in whenever she feels like…”

 

“Hey!” Abby frowned lightly, not understanding what the problem was. “We’ve been friends a long time. We have keys to each other’s apartments in case of emergencies.”

 

“This wasn’t an emergency.” Jac pointed out.

 

“It kinda was, considering you were chased out of your apartment by a ghost and Holtz got thrown against a wall.”

 

“Why did Holtz get thrown against a wall?” The women in question asked, making Jac jump and whirl around at the sound of her voice. “I’m not saying I’d necessarily complain. That would definitely depend on the context.”

 

As Holtzmann sent her a loaded wink, Jac turned to stare at Abby, suddenly unable to speak. Rubbing her forehead agitatedly, the older brunette sighed. “We were talking about last night’s excitement at Jac’s apartment.”

 

“Ahh, yes… that.” Holtzmann nodded, reaching past her friend to put her plate in the sink. “Nice pyjamas, by the way. I knew they’d look cute on you.”

 

Ignoring that last comment, Jac nodded back towards the guest room. “I’m gonna go shower and get dressed. I wanna get to HQ and get started on those new plans for the vortex portal.”

 

“Oh! I was thinking about that.” Holtzmann said, turning as the brunette passed her and wandered towards the bedroom. “What if we lowered the residual energy threshold and elevated the–” Breaking off as the door was closed firmly in her face, the engineer blinked several times before turning to look at Abby in confusion. “She shut the door on me.”

 

“I think she wants a bit of privacy, honey.” The older woman told her gently. “Come and have more pancakes.”


	12. Chapter 12

“Ooh! Posh coffee?” Patty’s eyes lit up at the styrofoam cups on the table.

 

Holtzmann nodded. “Yeah, I thought we could do with a little treat so I sent Kevin out to get them. You weren’t around so we just got your usual. That OK?”

 

“You know it is, baby.” Her friend agreed, accepting the cup the blonde handed her and taking a swig. Her eyes slipped closed and she made a fairly indecent sound, much to Holtzmann’s amusement. “Caramel cappuccino with a double shot and extra foam.”

 

“Only the best for my girls.” The engineer joked, winking at her.

 

“Chai latte for Erin, right?” Patty asked, glancing at the other cups and deciding to play waitress as there was no sign of the others. “Who drinks hazelnut lattes?”

 

Holtzmann wrinkled her nose, glancing at the scribble on the side of the cup. “No one? I did get Kevin to take the order, though, so…”

 

Catching sight of the receptionist entering the room at the other end, Patty called him over. “Who’s this hazelnut latte for, Kev?”

 

“Jac.” He replied instantly. “I thought it was a bit weird because she hates hazelnut, but it’s what she wanted.”

 

“I’m pretty sure she’s allergic to nuts.” Holtzmann mused. “Remember her reaction when I accidentally gave her my PB&J?”

 

Kevin nodded, pointing at her. “Yeah! I remember her saying that it was really awkward because Katie was pretty much addicted to hazelnut lattes and kissing her after she’d drunk one made her face swell up.”

 

“So why…?” Patty indicated the styrofoam cup in front of them.

 

“I don’t know. She definitely said hazelnut, though. I wrote it down and everything.”

 

With a shrug the man wandered away, clearly unconcerned about why his cousin would order a drink that would make her ill. The two women stared at the cup for a moment before Holtzmann shrugged and picked up the drink that was the focus of their conversation. She took an experimental sip and then nodded.

 

“I’ll do a swap with her.” She told Patty who was looking at her as though she’d lost her mind. “It was probably just Kevin messing up her order.”

 

“Probably for the best.” The other woman agreed. “I mean, after the backfiring gun incident and how many times you’ve set her on fire, she probably already has enough for an attempted murder case against us.”

 

“Who are you attempting to murder?” Erin asked, walking towards them with Abby and Jac on her heels.

 

“No one specific.”

 

“Ah, indiscriminate killing.” Abby nodded. “The very best kind.” She accepted the cup that the blonde was offering her. “Thanks, Holtz.”

 

“My pleasure.” Holtzmann picked up the coffee that had originally been hers and handed it to the other engineer. She’d only taken a couple of sips and guessed that Jac wouldn't notice anyway. “Here, Beckman.”

 

Jac frowned at the scrawled words on the cup. “This is yours.”

 

“Yeah, well…” She shrugged. “Kevin got you a hazelnut latte and you’re allergic to the syrup, right? So you have mine and I’ll drink this.”

 

“Why would Kevin get me hazelnut?”

 

“Apparently you asked for it.” Patty informed her. “He wrote it down and everything.”

 

“Why would I do that?” The young woman frowned. “I mean… I wouldn’t. It was…”

 

“It was Katie’s favourite, yeah, we know. Kevin told us.” Erin shrugged. As Holtzmann, Abby and Patty all stared at her with wide eyes, the physicist blinked in confusion. They tried to indicate that mentioning the topic that Jac avoided the most was probably unwise, but she clearly wasn't getting the message. “What? He did.”

 

“I need to go…” Jac waved her hand in the vague direction of the staircase that led up to the second floor, “… containment unit… realignment of the molecules in the…”

 

Her colleagues watched as she escaped from their midst, almost running towards the stairs in her desire to escape their gaze. As soon as she’d gone and they heard the sound of Holtzmann’s stereo being turned on somewhere above them, the faint beat of pop music reaching them, Erin turned to the others seriously.

 

“Guys… Have you noticed anything weird about Jac lately? Like… over the last few days especially?” She asked warily, eyeing the others carefully.

 

“Weird? Like what?” Abby frowned at her.

 

“How weird are we talking?” Patty asked, shrugging her shoulders. “I mean, are we talking weird to normal people or weird on the Holtzmann scale? I mean; that girl is odd at the best of times. The day before yesterday, I found her spinning round on her chair just listing different metals. She obviously remembered the one she wanted because I have never seen someone so excited about steel before.”

 

“We were working on the ecto-pult. An ectoplasm catapult if you will.” Holtzmann informed them with a shrug. “We couldn’t decide what the best base material would be. Turns out it wasn’t actually steel after all…”

 

“That explains that day’s explosion, then.” Patty snorted with amusement.

 

“Guys!” Erin drew their attention back to the matter at hand, aware that they probably didn’t have long until Jac returned to the first floor. “I mean weird weird. Like… weird for us, weird.”

 

“Elaborate.” Abby urged, flourishing her hand towards her friend.

 

“OK, so… aside from ordering a coffee she’s allergic to, she’s been a bit… spaced out?” The physicist started, wrinkling her nose up as she struggled to put her bad feeling about the younger woman into words that would make sense to other people. “I walked in on her meditating the other day and I swear she was levitating.”

 

Holtzmann burst out laughing. “You do realise that you’re a physicist and levitation is–”

 

“I do realise how ridiculous that sounds.” Erin assured her dryly. “But there have been other things too. The look she gets in her eyes sometimes, her unwillingness to contemplate certain ideas, the weird reaction she had to the new proton gun backfiring last night, the lack of progress you’ve made on certain projects since she joined us.”

 

Patty furrowed her eyebrows. “You saying she’s sabotaging us?”

 

“No! Well… not exactly.”

 

“But you don’t trust her?”

 

“Abby, it’s not that I don’t trust… I don’t know.” Erin admitted.

 

“What do you mean lack of progress?” Holtzmann asked, looking a little affronted. “We’ve made massive progress since Jac joined us. It was her input that finally got the super lightweight proton packs operational.”

 

“I appreciate that, but–”

 

“And the increased safety features were all her idea.” The blonde shrugged. “I was perfectly happy to run the risk of you lot getting various electrical and mechanical injuries, but Jac talked me into protecting you from burns and the like. Then there’s the tracker pods…”

 

Erin sighed. “I get your point.”

 

“I don’t understand your concern.” Abby told her quietly. “I trust you and I’m sure that if you’re worried then there’s a reason, but at the moment I can’t see what it is.”

 

“I agree that her reaction to the proton gun yesterday was strange.” Patty acknowledged. “The way she got pissy with me… ain’t like I meant to nearly hit her…”

 

“That’s just it,” Erin scooted forward in her seat, suddenly animated, “I don’t think she was annoyed… I think she was scared.”

 

“Scared? Why would she be scared?” Patty shrugged. “She’s never scared when Holtzy sets fire to her, which is ridiculously often. She’s never been remotely scared on a bust, either.”

 

“Yeah, I wouldn’t say she’s particularly easily scared.” Abby agreed. “But… You might have a point. She did look more scared than angry.”

 

“She did have some weird bruises…” Holtzmann mused suddenly. “She said she fell but… I don't know.”

 

“You think she’s been, like, attacked or something?” Patty asked anxiously.

 

All four stopped at that idea, each of them feeling a little sick at the thought. Abby shook her head, wondering whether that might be the answer to the younger woman’s odd behaviour recently. Holtzmann chewed her lip, thinking back over the conversation they’d had surrounding the bruises and she remembered Jac jerking away from her hands as she’d applied the cream to her back. Patty mentally ran through a list of times and locations that the younger woman had been alone and at risk of attack, finally settling on her walks between the fire station and her apartment. Erin felt guilty that she could ever have suspected that Jac might be working against them, knowing that she should have considered other options for her behaviour.

 

“I think you should talk to her.” She blurted out, looking at Abby.

 

“Me?”

 

“Yeah. You got all that touchy-feely crap down.” Patty agreed.

 

“Holtzmann spends the most time with her.”

 

The blonde shrugged. “She’s been weird with me lately… almost like she’s either hot or cold with me… ever since I saw the bruises, really. I don’t think she’ll want to talk to me.”

 

“Also, she is staying at your apartment.” Erin pointed out. “You must have a bond now.”

 

Throwing up her hands, Abby nodded and headed towards the stairs. She paused on the threshold to the engineers’ lair, peering through the gap between the door and the frame and watching Jac closely. Her fingers were flying over a keyboard and her eyes, protected by what looked like Holtzmann’s goggles, trained on a monitor as she programmed something into the device linked up to her computer.

 

Abby didn’t move as Jac disconnected whatever she was working on, examining it closely. Flipping open a panel on the side, she pressed a combination of buttons and stood back. The top of the metal box slid apart, revealing a whirling mass of colours, into which Jac emptied a syringe full of slime. There was a loud sizzling hiss and then a cloud of horrific smelling green smoke erupted from the device and the swirling colours vanished. Sighing deeply, the young woman placed Holtzmann’s goggles on the top of her head and prodded the metal box with her index finger.

 

“I might not be an expert in the whole development process, but that’s not a containment unit.” Abby said quietly, by way of announcing her presence.

 

“No.” Jac agreed, barely reacting to the intrusion. “It’s the vortex portal I was working on. But it’s just… I can’t get it right.”

 

“Want me to take a look at your formulas?”

 

“If you have time.”

 

Abby nodded, crossing the floor and leaning against the worktop beside her. “I’ve always got time. We’re a team, we’re a family, it’s how we work.” She took a steadying breath. “I’ve always got time… whatever you need, honey. Anything new you wanna talk about?”

 

“Not really.” Shrugging, Jac pulled the elastic band out of her hair and shook her head, dislodging Holtzmann’s goggles in the process. She caught them deftly, clamping one arm between her lips as she tied her hair into a messy bun and then returned them to sit on top of her head. “I’m nearly there with the remote activation of the treggs and I think we're finally getting somewhere with the ghost grabber.”

 

“I meant more… personal talking.”

 

“About what?”

 

“You know… things. Whatever’s bothering you…?”

 

“Nothing’s bothering me.” Jac replied stubbornly. “Unless... this isn’t about the me and Holtz thing again, is it?”

 

“Well, now you come to mention it, I–”

 

“Nope.” The younger woman shook her head. “I told you before, Holtzmann is my friend, nothing more.”

 

“She did say you were a bit distant and that you’ve been weird with her.” Abby replied with a casual shrug.

 

Jac frowned. “I’m not being weird with her.”

 

“Well Holtzmann thinks you are.”

 

“I’m not. I just… I’m busy, you know?” She shrugged, unwilling to admit that avoiding the blonde was probably far better for her personal safety. “I just don't have time for proton ping-pong and target practice all the time.”

 

“What’s proton pi– actually no,” Abby shook her head and held up one hand, “I don’t think I want to know.”

 

“Probably for the best.”

 

“I think you’re working too hard.” The older woman turned away from the blueprints she had been pretending to check for mistakes. “We all are. We need another night out.”

 

“I don’t think–”

 

“No excuses.”

 

“I really need to crack this one, Abby.” Jac sighed, motioning towards the vortex portal. “It’s really important.”

 

“When did you get the idea for it in the first place?” The other woman asked, folding her arms and arching an eyebrow.

 

With a sigh, the engineer reluctantly met her gaze, knowing what she was getting at. “On a night out.”

 

“Right, so that’s settled.”

 

“OK, fine.” Jac muttered. “I don’t have to enjoy it, though.”

 

“Actually, enjoyment is part of the requirements of this night out, missy.”

 

“Aright, mum.” She teased.

 

“Mum?” Abby swatted at her shoulder, doing a terrible impression of the younger woman's accent. “I’m not nearly old enough to be your mother!”

 

Unable to stop herself, Jac let out a quiet cry as her hand connected with the still sore bruises on her shoulder where Katie’s ghostly fingernails had broken the skin. With a concerned frown, Abby reached out and dragged the neck of her oversized t-shirt sideways, exposing the damaged skin. Her fingertips gently traced the crescent moon shaped marks that stood out vividly against her skin.

 

“What the hell is this?” She breathed. “Holtzmann told me about your back…” Without asking permission, she lifted the hem of the t-shirt and sucked her breath in through her teeth as she took in the still purple bruise. “Jesus, Jac! What happened to you?”

 

“I told Holtz. I fell.”

 

“You don’t get marks like these from falling over.” Abby argued, motioning towards her shoulder. “Those are nail marks. Talk to me. I want to help you.”

 

“Abby, honestly, there’s nothing to tell.” Jac told her softly. “If there was anything you could do to help, I would tell you. I promise.”

 

“Who did this?”

 

“I did.”

 

The older woman frowned in confusion. “You?”

 

“I had a sore shoulder so I used some numbing cream… apparently it was stronger than I thought because I managed to break the skin when I was massaging it.”

 

Abby wasn’t nearly convinced by the explanation; it didn't make sense, especially as Jac’s nails were bitten almost to the quick. Instead of arguing, however, she simply shrugged and smiled. “OK, if you insist. But if you ever want to talk about anything...”

 

“I know where you are.”

 

“Good.” She nodded backing towards the door to relay what she’d learnt to the others. "Remember, be ready by seven or we’ll drag you out of here in that outfit. Oh…” she wafted her hand towards the vortex portal, “you’re using the wrong base differential. Look at it again.”

 

Furrowing her eyebrows, Jac looked down at the calculations. Now she knew what she was looking for, spotting the mistake was easy. She had carried across the wrong number and used it to work out a much lower proton potential than was needed. Rectifying the mistake, she decided with a deep sigh, would take longer than anticipated, though; in more ways than one.


	13. Chapter 13

She hadn't been working for very long before pounding footsteps on the stairs and someone bursting through the door drew her attention. She took several worried steps forward at the sight of Patty leaning against the doorframe, catching her breath.

 

“We’ve got a bust. You fit, baby?”

 

“On my way.” Jac agreed, dropping what she was doing and hurrying after the other woman.

 

The bust-preparation routine was down to a fine art by now. Before Jac had joined the team it had taken Holtzmann several trips to load the proton packs into the back of Ecto-1. She barely trusted the rest of the team to utilize her ‘babies’ during busts, let alone load them safely into the back of the hearse. Jac, though, was the exception to the rule after her many, diplomatic, suggestions on how to improve their already ingenious design.

 

By the time Abby, Erin and Patty were ready for the off, the two engineers were all packed and raring to go. Ecto-1 sped off in the direction of the building that was supposedly haunted. Unlike most of their calls, it wasn’t a private home that they were heading towards. Instead, it was a derelict hospital just outside their usual boundaries. Patty had been excited at the thought of investigating the building, heaping fact upon fact on the rest of the team as they drove.

 

“I think we should split up.” Abby told them in a hushed voice, looking around at their surroundings. “We’ll cover more ground that way. Everyone got their treggs?” As the rest of the team nodded, she signalled which way they should go. “Good luck.”

 

Jac hung back as the others separated, waiting until they had all headed away, before following the route Holtzmann had taken along the winding corridors. She watched the blonde for a moment, dancing along the thick red carpet and wiggling her hips to whatever beat she could hear in her head. With a fond smile, Jac reached out and placed her hand lightly on her friend’s shoulder.

 

Whirling round with wide eyes, Holtzmann regarded her warily. “What?”

 

“I need your help.”

 

Looking past her, the blonde frowned, obviously expecting an incoming threat. “What’s wrong?”

 

“I…” Jac took a stuttered breath in. “Now probably isn’t the time but… it’s the only chance I’ve got to… Katie is…”

 

“Your dead girlfriend.” Holtzmann finished for her as the younger woman trailed off. When Jac shook her head, she tried again. “A loss to the whole world? The love of your life?”

 

“She was, but… she’s not dead.”

 

“Whaaa?!”

 

“I mean, she is dead, but she’s not gone. She’s…”

 

“She’s a ghost?” Holtzmann realised. “As a Ghostbuster that sentence should have been far easier for you to say.”

 

“I’m… my flat, that was… that was Katie.”

 

“Why did you lie to me? We thought the ghost must have followed me back from the fire station. You said you hadn’t had any trouble with ghosts before. I believed you.”

 

“I know, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I hated lying to you.” Jac looked away, unable to deal with the wounded expression on her friend’s face. “I know that’s not good enough, but I didn’t know what to do.”

 

There was a long pause as the blonde considered the new information. “If I was Abby or Erin or Patty I would ask why you haven’t busted her already.”

 

“But you’re not.” Jac pointed out. “Which is why I came to you. I don’t want them to know how much I’ve betrayed them.”

 

“You have to tell them, Jac. They deserve to know… they need to know.” She rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. “I’m not comfortable keeping this from them.”

 

“I can’t… I can’t face the thought of how disappointed they’re going to be…”

 

“We’ll get to that.” Holtzmann told her firmly, clearly unwilling to let the secrecy issue go. “But first… why didn’t you just bust her?”

 

“I… at first I couldn’t bust Katie because I had no equipment. Then… then I couldn’t bring myself to. Now… now I just can’t and I need help.”

 

“I get that you love her, but that ghost is strong. I’ve still got bruises.”

 

Jac winced, reaching out to her friend and then changing her mind and retracting her hand hurriedly. “I’m so sorry. I tried to warn you. She… she’s jealous of you.”

 

“Who wouldn’t be? I mean, stunning personality, fantastic body… I’ve got it all going on.” Holtzmann joked, a bright smile appearing on her face for a moment. “But is there any reason why, specifically? I mean… we haven’t even been formally introduced.”

 

“Me. Katie thinks I… It doesn’t matter.” The younger woman shook her head. “She’s too strong. I tried to trap her in the first version of the portable vortex cube a couple of nights ago, but… she destroyed it.”

 

“And by destroyed you mean…?”

 

“It’s in about twenty pieces scattered around my living room.”

 

“Ah…” Holtzmann nodded slowly. “Are you… was she mad?”

 

“You have no idea.” Jac laughed mirthlessly, wincing at the memory.

 

“The bruises?”

 

“Yeah…”

 

“What did you mean that this is your only chance?” The older woman suddenly remembered her friend’s earlier words.

 

“She… Katie’s almost always with me.”

 

“How?”

 

“She’s too strong. I can’t stop her.”

 

“Does she possess you?” Holtzmann asked suddenly, putting together several pieces of the jigsaw.

 

“I… Yes.”

 

The blonde nodded. “That explains a lot. I don’t do well with people who’ve been possessed… they try to throw me out of windows and the like…”

 

“What?”

 

“Referencing the apocalypse story; check your databanks. Where’s Katie now?”

 

“At my apartment. I convinced her that coming on the bust was too dangerous, especially after the backfiring proton gun incident.”

 

“Of course!” Holtzmann almost laughed, but managed to contain it at the last minute as she caught the expression on Jac’s face.

 

“Holtz… why hasn’t any of the equipment reacted to Katie’s presence?” The younger woman asked, chewing her lip. “I mean… there’s a dozen untested devices alone that should have registered her, but there’s been nothing.”

 

The blonde considered that question for a moment, the pair walking slowly along the darkened corridor, still mostly alert and focused on the task at hand. “My best guess would be that your living signal is strong enough to mask her presence, essentially confusing the equipment enough not to register her. It would take more research and investigation to actually come up with a conclusive answer, but that concept is fascinating… imagine the implications if ghosts could hide themselves?”

 

“OK…” Jac nodded slowly, mentally digesting Holtzmann’s overexcited theorising.

 

“So… we should bust her, right? Let’s go bust her.”

 

“I don’t want to, but we have to.” She agreed quietly. “She’s too dangerous and she’s getting stronger. Sometimes she completely takes over and I can’t stop her.”

 

“Like the hazelnut latte incident.”

 

Jac couldn’t stop herself smiling at the expression on Holtzmann’s face. “And worse.”

 

“Worse? How so?”

 

“I don’t remember working on the detonation buttons.” Jac admitted. “I remember working out the necessary pressure for the proton-fields and then… they were done. That’s why I didn’t want Erin to test them. I don’t know if they’re safe.”

 

“That is a definite doozy.” The blonde agreed. “What does Katie want?”

 

“Honestly? I’m not sure. I thought maybe she just wanted to stick around and… well… be with me. But now I think she’s realised that the whole living person/dead person relationship is less than ideal.” Jac said with a sigh. “She wants a way to come back… properly. Completely.”

 

“She wants a physical form.”

 

“Yeah. Katie keeps asking about the ghost grabber and how we're doing with it. I said I’d help her find a way…”

 

“That’s why you’ve been doing homework on it.” Holtzmann said, realisation dawning on her face. “Those calculations were far too extensive for the grabber… you’ve been trying to work out how to use the technology to give her a solid form. You want her to come back?”

 

“No, I… I did. But now… I don’t know.”

 

A curious gleam appeared in the older woman’s eyes as she considered her next question. “So… She’s your girlfriend, right?”

 

“Right…”

 

“To what extent?”

 

Jac frowned. “I don’t understand.”

 

Holtzmann grinned even more broadly. “Can you like… do stuff?”

 

“I’m not sure. At first I couldn’t feel her at all and then, as she got stronger, I could feel pressure where she was touching me. It wasn’t quite enough to count as feeling her, it was never enough, but there was something. We tried so hard to make that connection. But then… since she’s got really strong, she doesn’t try anymore. Katie’s fixated on the project.”

 

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it sounds to me like you’ve been dumped by a dead chick.” The blonde said, not sounding remotely sympathetic.

 

“Great.” Jac responded flatly. “Can’t even make it work with the ones with no other options.”

 

“I thought she was the great love of your life?”

 

“I wasn’t exactly the love of hers.”

 

“Ah well, you can remove her from your life in the ultimate way.” Holtzmann sniggered. “No wonder you’re so uptight. You’re not getting any from the ghosty girl.”

 

“And you are?”

 

“From Katie? Nah.”

 

“You know what I mean.” Jac rolled her eyes.

 

“It’s not like I have the time.”

 

The younger woman was about to respond when the tablet pushed into a pocket of her utility belt started beeping shrilly. She fumbled with it hastily, flipping it over and glancing at the screen. Reading the name flashing on the display, she showed it to Holtzmann and tapped once to bring up the exact location of their colleague.

 

“She’s on the second floor. Come on.”

 

They threw themselves around the corner and sprinted towards the staircase, making their way speedily up to the corridor that the tracker was directing them too. Spotting the figure of their friend sitting on the floor, the engineers threw open the double doors and headed towards her, dropping to their knees and trying to assess her for any injuries.

 

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” Abby assured them, swatting their hands away. “I tripped and landed on the tregg, that’s all.”

 

“Maybe we should include a way of stopping the alarm on the pod?” Jac suggested, immediately examining the device.

 

“We considered that and decided against it, remember?” Holtzmann reminded her, reaching for the tablet and stopping the warning. “We thought it would be too easy for other people to stop it.”

 

“Yeah, but if Abs is gonna fall over and trigger it–”

 

“We should factor in the clumsiness aspect.” The blonde shrugged. “I’m surprised it hasn't happened more often. I’m also surprised that Erin’s hasn’t been triggered by particularly violent slimings.”

 

“Maybe we should build in the capacity for the alarm to be neutralised by the close proximity of another tregg?”

 

“I still think we need to find a more portable version of the control panel so everyone can see where the problem is… I mean, Gilbert and Tolan probably have no idea, Yates is down.”

 

“A little help here?” Abby requested, watching her friends amble slowly away from her along the corridor, too distracted by their conversation to remember she was even there.

 

Jac turned and walked back towards her quickly, shooting her an apologetic smile. “Yeah, right, sorry.”

 

“Did you just refer to me as a problem?” Abby asked Holtzmann, dusting herself down.

 

“Well, if the shoe fits.”

 

“Thank you very much.” The brunette groused. “What were you two doing together anyway? I know Jac had the tregg monitor, but how did you know I was down, Holtzy?”

 

“Bumped into her on the way up.” Holtzmann said with a shrug. “She was moving faster than I’ve ever seen her before, so I figured there was either a problem or a really hot girl up here. Turns out it was both.”

 

Rolling her eyes at the blonde’s blatant flirting, smirking slightly at the wink she received in response, Abby glanced along the corridor. “Neither of you spotted anything? The PKE meter isn’t showing anything at all and neither is anything else.”

 

“Nothing to report downstairs, either.”

 

“It’s really annoying, I wanted to test out the ghost grabber.” Holtzmann sighed. “Maybe we’ll have to look elsewhere for a test subject.”

 

“Shall we find the others and regroup?” Jac suggested, stiffening slightly at the mention of the experimental device. “No point hanging around here for nothing.”


	14. Chapter 14

After a thorough debrief on their unsuccessful bust at the old hospital the team had separated. Jac headed out of the fire station without saying anything to anyone but Holtzmann, who had disappeared upstairs to see what she could do about Patty’s proton pack, which had been sparking violently all the way back from the bust. The historian had gone through her bookshelves and pulled out anything that might reference the hospital, eager to find out even more about the building. Abby and Erin had got into a light dispute about one of the equations covering the over-large whiteboards the physicist was so fond of.

 

“Where’s Jac?”

 

“She needed to go back to her apartment to check something.” Holtzmann informed her distractedly, not bothering to look up from the circuit board in front of her.

 

“You let her go on her own?” Abby sounded outraged, so the blonde looked up. “We still don’t know what happened to that ghost.”

 

“She’s a big girl. She said she’d be fine.”

 

“You believed her?”

 

“Why wouldn’t I?” Holtzmann asked, smirking lightly. “I thought you and Erin were flirting? I mean arguing.”

 

“Kevin arrived.” Abby informed her as an explanation, ignoring the teasing. “And we weren’t arguing. We were debating the best way to balance the equation Erin was working on.”

 

The blonde snorted with amusement. “Ahh… I get why you’re up here. You’re giving Kerin some space.” She winked and then chuckled to herself. “ Kerin? Does that work? Ervin?”

 

“Don’t… don’t do that. Don’t smush their names together.” Abby pulled a face. “That whole thing is just… I don’t like thinking about it. It’s sort of unsettling, you know? Like watching a puppy on roller skates. It’s cute and all, but you can’t help thinking something bad is about to happen? Not to mention how unnatural it seems; I mean… Erin and _Kevin_?”

 

“I know… I don’t see it either.” Holtzmann agreed. “He’s just so… _Kevin_. And so not _Abby_.”

 

“Yes, anyway, so the academic debate fizzled out and the debate over who was hotter was ignited and here I am.” Abby continued, blushing despite her attempts to ignore Holtzmann’s words. “I envy Patty, you know? She is so engrossed in her books that I don't think she’s even noticed.”

 

As if on cue, the door to the laboratory flew open and the woman they’d just been discussing appeared. From the expression on her face, she wasn’t quite as immune to the charms of Erin and Kevin as Abby had suspected. With a loud, irritable huff, she dropped into Jac’s chair and spun round to face the other two women.

 

“I’m as much of a fan of PDAs as anyone else, but if I have to listen to the pet names those two have for each other… I swear I’m going to kill someone.”

 

“Snugglebunny is my personal favourite.” Holtzmann informed her with mock-seriousness.

 

Patty snorted. “I think I threw up in my mouth a little bit.”

 

“So? How long has Jac been gone now?” Abby asked, unable to fight down her worry about the younger woman any longer. She had seen the expression in her eyes after they’d led her away from her apartment and couldn’t quite believe that Holtzmann had allowed her to go back on her own. Abby had thought that there was something between them; however much Jac denied it. “Shouldn’t we check in with her?”

 

“Where is she?” Patty asked, looking between them in confusion.

 

“She went to her apartment to–”

 

“What in the sweet hell…? Why would she go back there without backup?”

 

“Right.” Abby nodded. “That was my question.”

 

“Should we go get Erin?” Holtzmann sighed, realising where the conversation was heading.

 

Patty shrugged. “She’s going to watch Kevin’s Hide and Seek final or some shit.”

 

“How is that…?” Abby looked between them in confusion. “How can Erin go and _watch_ Hide and Seek? Surely that negates the whole… you know what? I don’t care.”

 

“Try calling her cell.” Patty suggested, already walking towards the stairs.

 

“Who’s cell? Erin’s?” Holtzmann asked, confused. “She’s still downstairs, right?”

 

“No, dumbass, Jac’s.”

 

“She’s not answering.”

 

Abby blinked at her. “You’ve tried calling?”

 

“Well duh!” The blonde rolled her eyes and passed Patty, jogging down the staircase. “She went back to her haunted apartment on her own. I’m not stupid.”

 

“You’re such an asshole.” The historian commented mildly, following her.

 

They hadn’t quite made it to the door when Erin and Kevin caught up with them, asking where they were going. There were a couple of moments of confusion when the receptionist got the wrong end of the stick and thought they were either going on a call for someone called Jasper or to the jungle, until his girlfriend patted him soothingly on the shoulder and sent him out to his Hide and Seek tournament without her.

 

The four women left the fire station and made their way towards Jac’s apartment. They had the foresight to pick up a couple of Holtzmann’s latest ghostbusting inventions and a containment unit, just in case they got lucky with the ghost that had attacked Holtzmann and Jac the last time they’d been there.

 

Like the last time they’d visited, the apartment door was swinging on its hinges. Sighing, Patty commented that they should just make Jac give up the lease and move into the fire station instead, significantly reducing the risk to all of their lives. Pushing the door, rolling her eyes slightly as it gave a low creak, Erin led the way inside. The first thing they noticed about the apartment was that it was incredibly cold. The second thing they noticed was that it looked as though there had been either a wild party or a violent fight.

 

“Jac?” Abby called, breaking the silence suddenly and making the other three jump. “Jac, honey, are you here?”

 

“I don’t think she’s here.” Patty muttered after a couple of seconds when there was no answer to the call.

 

“I have a feeling this might be slightly personal…” Erin announced, holding up a t-shirt that looked as though it had been attacked by a pair of scissors.

 

Holtzmann nudged a smashed photo frame with the toe of her boot. “No shit…”

 

“Was Jac seeing someone?” Erin asked, looking around the living room for any clues. “Did she have a girlfriend or…?”

 

“Not that I know of.” Abby replied with a shrug. “But she’s not exactly the most forthcoming person around.”

 

“I don’t think she’s wanted to see anyone since her girlfriend died.” Holtzmann said with a shrug, chewing her lip. She hesitated for a moment as she debated whether to tell her friends what Jac had told her about Katie’s ghost. “Guys, there’s something I think you should–”

 

With a cry of fear, Holtzmann found herself being thrown across the room. She cried out again as she smashed into the far wall, sliding down to the ground and breathing heavily. A heavy blow struck the side of her face and she jolted sideways with the force, raising a hand to her cheek and touching the tender area in surprise.

 

“Holtz!” Abby shouted, taking a step towards her friend, eyes wide with horror.

 

“Shit!” Patty’s shout from the bedroom at the back of the apartment drew their attention.

 

“I’m fine. Go.” Holtzmann ordered them, struggling to her feet as she spoke.

 

By the time they arrived, the historian was kneeling on the ground beside the immobile body of the fifth member of their team. A large, deep crimson puddle was spreading across the wooden floors and it took an embarrassingly long moment for the trio to realise what it was. Abby was the first to understand and she cursed loudly, before dropping down beside Patty and nudging her aside to see what had caused the puddle of blood. Patty dropped her hand from Jac’s forehead and scooted sideways.

 

“What happened?”

 

“Do I look psychic to you?” Patty snapped. Then she sighed. “Sorry, I… sorry Abby…”

 

“Don’t mention it.” The scientist muttered, distractedly. “Holtz, get the car… we need to get her to the hospital.” When the blonde didn’t move, simply stood open-mouthed in the doorway, she tried again. “Holtz! The car! Now!”

 

“Should we deal with the fact that this was almost definitely caused by the ghost?” Erin muttered as Patty gently gathered Jac into her arms and, with Abby guiding her, led the way towards the hallway. “I mean… this ghost is clearly a danger to people.”

 

“People in general or members of the Ghostbusters?” Abby asked meaningfully. “I mean we haven’t had any reports about this building. It seems like Holtz and Jac are the only ones that have been attacked by this thing. Even now, we haven’t been touched and yet Holtz–”

 

“Yeah… let’s get out of here before we get added to that list.” Patty suggested. “One Ghostbuster down is enough.”

 

“You think she’s gonna be OK?” Erin asked, chewing on her lip anxiously as they waited for the lift to take them down to the ground floor. “Is this being deliberately slow?”

 

“I think we need to get her to the hospital.” Abby said bluntly, sighing with relief as the doors slid open in front of them.

 

“You OK Patty?”

 

“I’m great. She weighs less than a proton pack.” She replied as they exited the building and spotted Ecto-1 immediately.

 

After loading Jac into the back of the hearse, not thinking too closely about the implications of that, the others clambered in and Holtzmann sped through the streets of the city. She waited while they unloaded the injured young woman, before driving away in search of a parking space. Making their way into the Emergency Department, Abby decided that she wasn't above playing the Ghostbusters card in order to get Jac seen more quickly.

 

“Where is she?” Holtzmann demanded, looking around wildly as she rushed towards the hard, plastic seats where Patty, Abby and Erin were sitting nervously. All three were leaning against the wall, staring at various points around them. “Jac? Where is she?”

 

“They took her through there.” Erin said, jumping up and pointing to a set of double doors. She moved forward and rubbed Holtzmann’s upper arms reassuringly. “They’re taking good care of her, OK?”

 

“Yeah, I know.” The blonde replied, almost defensively. “Did you bust the ghost?”

 

Patty shook her head. “Nope, we were a little distractedly by the copious amounts of blood leaking out of our friend.”

 

“Have the doctors been to see you yet?”

 

“Holtzy, baby, we’ve literally been sitting here ten minutes.” Patty told her. “We told them Jac was a Ghostbuster, demanded they take good care of her, Erin yelled something no one could understand and they went through there.”

 

“I’m an emotional person.” Erin muttered, sitting back down and putting a hand on Abby’s knee, which was bouncing up and down and displaying her agitation. “I’m sorry, OK?”

 

“I’m gonna go check out the apartment.” Holtzmann decided firmly, standing up seconds after taking a seat. “We need to bust that ghost. I should also check whether anything is salvageable. Jac’s gonna need some stuff, right?”

 

“Holtz, sit down.” Abby ordered her. “I think you should be checked over too. The way you were slammed into that wall…”

 

“I’m fine. I can’t just–”

 

“You can. Sit down.” The older woman said again. “As soon as we hear she’s OK, we’ll go and do something productive. Until then we’ll wait here.”

 

“Has someone called Kevin? Or her dad?”

 

Erin’s eyes widened. “I’ll call Kevin… but he’s at his final so he might not answer.”

 

“Does he even know how to answer his cell phone?” Holtzmann asked sarcastically.

 

“Behave.” Abby warned her quietly, as Erin went to call him. “How do we get in touch with her dad? Should we call him? Maybe we should wait until we know something?”

 

“But what if–?”

 

“The poor guy’s already lost his son and his wife.” Patty pointed out. “Maybe we hold off on telling him he might lose his daughter as well?”

 

Holtzmann turned towards her with wide-eyes. “You don’t think…?”

 

“That was a shitload of blood, baby.”

 

“Yeah but…”

 

“There’s no point speculating until the doctors come and speak to us.” Abby attempted to diffuse the situation, seeing the terror written all over the younger woman’s face. “Holtz, honey, I’m sure they’re doing everything they can. The things they can do these days…”

 

“But she can’t…”

 

“I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

 

Patty looked between the other two women carefully. “Will you please just tell us what’s going on between you and Jac? Are you like a thing now? I mean, I need to know so I don’t accidentally walk in on something, ‘cos that would just be bad.”

 

“There is nothing going on.” The blonde almost snapped. “She’s my friend and I’m worried for her, alright?”

 

“OK, OK.” Abby held up her hands, unused to seeing Holtzmann like that. She seemed genuinely angry about the situation. “Settle down, both of you. I know we’re all worried about Jac, but you will not fight. Do you understand me?”


	15. Chapter 15

“Hey, baby, how you feeling?”

Jac blinked several times, screwing up her eyes against the bright lights. She tried to twist her head to one side, finding that it was restricted and forcing her eyes open to try and ascertain the cause. Apart from the lights that were hurting her eyes, everything seemed to be so white that the light was reflected, making things even worse.

“What… what happened?” She managed to force out; her broken, rasping voice sounding foreign to her ears. “Where am I?”

“Hospital.” Patty informed her, discarding the magazine she’d been flicking through and leaning forward. “You gave us a scare. We’ve been taking it in shifts to sit with you and you woke up on my watch. It’s like I won a prize or something.”

“Ten points to Ravenclaw…” Jac murmured, trying to sit up and failing. She sighed, settling for allowing Patty to gently prop her up on her pillows instead. “What happened?”

“We’re guessing you were attacked by the ghost at your apartment.”

“No, that’s… that can’t be…”

“Well,” Patty shrugged, “we were hoping you’d be able to tell us more. We don’t know what happened. We found you on the bedroom floor of your apartment and that’s all we know. It looked like there’d been a fight or something.”

“I… I don’t know… I don’t remember…”

“Don’t worry yourself about it, baby. We’ll figure it out.”

Sniffing softly, the younger woman lay back against the pillows and stared at the ceiling, trying to force herself to remember what had happened. She smiled weakly when her friend reached out and held her hand. “Where are the others?”

“At the fire station.” Patty informed her, reaching for the magazine with one hand and keeping hold of Jac’s with the other. They had decided against telling her that Holtzmann had been attacked by the ghost as well, mainly because the blonde had been determined she shouldn’t know. “At least I think that’s where they are. I don’t really know. Erin will be here soon to take over, anyway.”

“To take over?” Jac arched an eyebrow.

The older woman laughed. “You know what I mean. After Abby and Holtz almost blew up one of those machines over there while they were tinkering with something, the doctors said that only one of us could be here at a time. I don’t know what they were hoping to achieve by that, but Erin thought it was probably a good idea.”

“Really?”

“It’s definitely kept Holtzy out of trouble. She’s done a lot of work on that ghost grabber thing.”

“How long have I been in here?” Jac asked with a frown.

“About a week. Maybe a bit longer.” Patty shrugged. “They said you might be out for a while so, you know, it’s good you’re awake now.”

“Yeah… I kinda feel like a nap, though.” 

Standing up, a realisation suddenly occurred to her friend. “I should probably go get a doctor or a nurse or someone…”

“You do that, Patty,” Jac agreed, letting her eyes slip closed, “you do that…”

x-x

Holtzmann spun round on her desk chair, narrowing her eyes at Abby who was pottering around their shared office. The brunette said that she needed to keep herself busy, but Holtzmann knew that she was keeping an eye on her. They had taken a vote and decided that they would wait until they had news on Jac before going to tackle whatever had put their friend in hospital. Holtzmann hadn’t agreed with the others, adamant that they needed to investigate it immediately, but she had lost out to the majority.

Abby and Erin had reasoned that keeping a calm head and approaching the bust as they would any other job was the most sensible idea and Patty had wanted to research the building further. As yet, Holtzmann hadn’t filled them in on the most likely cause of Jac’s current condition, unsure how to put it all into words that wouldn’t make her friends angry with them for being kept in the dark.

“Holtzy, baby, you gotta calm down.” Patty informed her, entering the room and shaking her head at the sight of the still wound up blonde. She didn’t think the younger woman had moved since she’d left to go to the hospital. “Jac’s woken up.”

“What?”

“Yeah, she just woke up.” Patty nodded. “Like, real quick and then she went back to sleep, but she woke up. She couldn’t really remember what happened, but the doctor said she probably won’t for a while.”

“You spoke to the doctor?” Abby asked.

The taller woman shrugged. “Well I was the only one there and apparently that makes me the one the doctor speaks to.”

“What about the ‘only speaking to family’ rule?”

Patty shot her a look. “Clearly he mistook me for her mother. I don't know!”

“What did they say?”

“Well… it was a lot of doctor speak and I didn't understand a whole lot of it, because I’m not a doctor, but they said something about a fractured skull and some bleeding.”

“What?” Abby’s eyes widened in horror. 

“Yeah, exactly, that’s what I thought.” Patty agreed, nodding emphatically. “I heard fracture and bleeding and freaked the fuck out.” She nodded seriously. “But then the doctor said something about the blood being outside the cavity and not pressing on the brain, which is apparently a good thing. Also, the fact that she’s awake and talking – sassing the nurses, actually – is a good sign.”

“Did he say what they were going to do about it?”

“Well, he said that apart from keeping Jac monitored and scanning to check her brain every now and then, it’ll just be a matter of time before she’s up and running again.”

“I’m going to see her.”

“Nah, Holtzy… it’s Erin’s turn and she’s already left. We gotta stick to the schedule, baby.” Patty told her soothingly. “She’ll be in there a while yet. You can go visit next.”

Holtzmann scowled at her. “So does this mean that we can finally go and bust that asshole?”

“Nearly.” Abby nodded slowly, still scrutinising her friend carefully. “Patty wants to do a little more research into the building. Also, we haven’t heard anything more about it, so we have to wonder whether this is personal. If it is personal, we need to prepare ourselves completely.”

“OK, great.” The blonde nodded, not looking remotely as if it was great news at all. 

“So… I’m gonna go take a shower.” Patty announced. “Somebody better order dinner while I’m gone because I am starving.”

As soon as Abby headed away to place their order, Holtzmann shot out of her seat. She gathered a couple of her newest inventions, including the newly tested more portable containment unit, and her jacket, before sliding down the fire pole and slipping out of the building. She walked as quickly as she could, without actually running, towards Jac’s apartment building. As she approached, the woman with the dog was leaving and, abandoning all pretences, Holtzmann started jogging, managing to catch the door before it closed.

“I haven’t seen your friend around for a few days.” The woman told her, split seconds before her comment would have gone unheard. “Jacqueline, wasn’t it?”

“Oh, yeah… she’s been staying with one of our friends.” Holtzmann replied, caught off guard.

“She should really have taken her pet with her. Is it a cat or something?”

“What? Jac doesn’t have any pets?”

“Well something’s been making a noise in her apartment.” The old woman said, much to the engineer’s confusion.

As she and her tiny dog headed away into the dark, on what Holtzmann could only assume would be the shortest walk ever considering the size of the dog and the age of the woman, the blonde made her way up towards Jac’s apartment. She briefly considered waiting for the elevator, but decided that waiting for it to arrive and then waiting for it to reach the correct floor would drive her crazy. Instead she jogged up the stairs until she reached the seventh floor.

Pausing outside 7b she hesitated, fiddling with the apartment key that they had snagged when they’d found Jac there a week or so before. Taking a settling breath, Holtzmann let herself in and looked around nervously. It looked exactly as it had done when she’d seen it last. There was no way they could let their friend come back here without cleaning it up a little.

Picking her way across the living room, Holtzmann looked for tell tale signs of a haunting. She should definitely have brought the PKE Meter, she decided as she felt her ears popping. A sudden chill rushed through her, accompanied by a flash of blue. Spinning on her heels, the scientist found herself face-to-face with the ghost of Jac’s former girlfriend.

“Oh, hey. You must be Katie?” Holtzmann asked, forcing herself to remain calm. Anger was bubbling up inside her as she remembered the state her friend had been in when they’d taken her to the hospital. “I’m Holtzmann… scientist, engineer and Lord of the dance.”

“I know who you are.”

“Ah yeah, we’ve sort of met, right?” The blonde nodded knowingly. “Although I knew nothing about it. You know, red hair translates really well into ghost form. Well done you.”

“You’re going to try and bust me?” Katie asked, laughing at Holtzmann who bristled at her amusement. “Jac tried to do that… twice…”

“As good as Jac is, she’s a newbie. I’ve been doing this much longer.” 

“And I’m much stronger.”

Holtzmann saw what was coming, but had no time to do anything before the ghost woman swooped towards her. A flash of blue, an intense cold and then a huge pressure in her chest was the first hint that something big had just happened. The second clue was that she no longer had control of any of her limbs. Without meaning to, she was walking towards the apartment door, hand outstretched towards the doorknob. 

“Holy shit.” Except the voice coming out of her mouth wasn’t hers. Sure, it sounded like hers, but Holtzmann knew it wasn’t. Neither was the laugh that accompanied her walking confidently down the hallway towards the lift.

There was nothing Holtzmann could do as she found herself hailing a cab and travelling towards the hospital where Jac was being cared for. She walked through the reception and along the corridor to the small, private room that the younger woman was currently residing in. Pushing her way inside, the blonde barely spared Erin a glance in the chair pulled up beside the bed, before her gaze fell on the sleeping form of the injured woman.

“The doctor’s just brought her back from her latest scan.” Erin informed her friend quietly, acutely aware that Jac was sleeping off the latest medication that had been pumped into her system; the one she’d been specifically given to make her sleep. “He was happy with the images; apparently she’s incredibly lucky to have got off so lightly.”

“Any word on when she’ll be able to leave?”

Erin smiled warmly, reaching out to pat her shoulder. “We all want her back, sweetheart, but this is the best place for her at the moment.” She hesitated, seeing something strange in the blonde’s eyes that she couldn’t quite read. “Are you OK?”

“Fine.” Holtzmann nodded, almost robotically. “You can go. I’ll sit with her.”

“Are you sure?” The other woman didn’t look as though she was completely sure it was a good idea, but she also seemed distracted. “I think I’ve just had a breakthrough on the equations Abby and I were working on, but I need to–”

“Just go.”

With one quick squeeze to the hand of the woman lying in the hospital bed and a final glance over her shoulder, Erin left the room and pulled the door closed behind her. Holtzmann stalked across the space and perched on the edge of the chair that Erin had recently vacated. She watched the sleeping woman for a moment, almost quizzically, before leaning closer and brushing the back of her fingers along Jac’s jawline.

Letting her hand drop to the mattress, Holtzmann looked around. She had been trying to fight the feeling that she had absolutely no control over her body, but so far she had been completely unsuccessful. Having someone else inside your head was bizarre, Holtzmann thought to herself, ignoring the answering cackle from the ghost woman. She was being bombarded with thoughts and memories and feelings that were completely foreign to her. She knew what Katie was thinking, what she was planning, but there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Her nimble fingers seemed to move of their own accord, fiddling with the medical equipment that Jac was hooked up to. Holtzmann desperately tried to stop the motions, knowing exactly what would happen. She fought back, her right hand grabbing her left wrist and yanking it backwards. Seconds later, her right hand released the left and forced itself behind her back. 

The fluttering of eyelashes and a soft exhalation combined to inform the woman that Jac was waking up. For a few seconds after she adjusted to her situation, the brunette smiled up at the woman hovering over her. Then, as though something alerted her to the fact that things were not as they seemed, her face fell and she shifted uncomfortably against her pillows. Her eyes widened when she realised she couldn't really move.

“Holtz?”

“Yes, it’s me. Hello! I’m here. I’m always here, in fact.”

“Holtzmann? Are you OK? What’s…?”

“Yes, yes, your precious Holtzmann is fine. For now, anyway.”

“Katie?”

“Well, duh!” The blonde rolled her eyes. “Surprise!”


	16. Chapter 16

Jac struggled, unable to do much in her weakened state. Somewhere along the line, Katie had managed, using Holtzmann, to secure her firmly to the metal rails that ran along the sides of the hospital bed and prevent her from freeing herself. She had removed most of the monitoring equipment that Jac was hooked up to and disabled the panic alarm that would alert the staff to any problems. The last part of her plan involved standing threateningly over the young woman with a bag filled with a clear liquid.

 

“Katie, please…”

 

“Oh, come on. Death’s not _that_ bad. I should know, after all.” Hearing the words coming out of Holtzmann’s mouth was more unsettling than the threat itself.

 

“Don’t do this.” Jac pleaded. “Sure, do whatever you want to me, but leave Holtzmann out of this. I know what it’s like; she’s totally aware of everything you’re doing. Don’t make her feel like a murderer.”

 

“Murder?” She laughed. “Who said anything about _murder_? No… I’m just going to disable you for a while. It’s more fun this way.” Holtzmann frowned at the bag in her hand. “Well… that was the plan, but I’m not a doctor, so I have no idea what this much morphine will actually do to you if it’s pushed through the drip quickly.”

 

“Wait!”

 

“I’ve waited long enough…” A uninterested expression, which Jac had never seen on the blonde’s face before, twisted Holtzmann’s features as she fixed the bag to the IV stand and started fiddling with the cannula on the back of her hand. “I’m bored of this, now.”

 

“Holtz!” Jac almost shouted, hoping to get through to her friend, buried deep inside her own body. “Holtzmann! Can you hear me? This isn’t your fault, OK? Do not blame yourself for this… you can’t do anything about it. It’s OK, Holtz, I promise. Whatever happens, this is not down to you.”

 

“Oh, enough already.”

 

Standing back, Holtzmann watched clinically for a while as Jac’s blinks got slower and the moments between her eyes being open got longer. Once she was sure that the brunette was unconscious, the older woman turned and left the room quietly. She smiled at a passing nurse, telling her that Jac was asleep and that she was popping back to the fire station, but that one of the others would be there to sit with her soon.

 

Making her way back through the city towards the Ghostbusters HQ, Holtzmann and Katie silently battled to gain control. The ghost inhabiting her body was definitely strong but, after the Rowan incident, Holtzmann had thought a lot about what she’d do if a spirit ever possessed her. It was much more difficult than she had ever expected and she realised that she owed Abby another big hug for the ordeal she’d gone through, if they made it out of this one.

 

Pausing beside the payphone round the corner from the fire station, Holtzmann rooted through the pockets of her overalls for some change, before punching in the number and waiting for someone to pick up. Smiling as Kevin’s familiar, slightly confused, greeting met her ears, the blonde put very little effort into disguising her voice.

 

“Oh, hey, this is the Ghostbusters.” In the background she could hear Erin’s disgruntled sigh, but the physicist refrained from actually saying anything. “What have you got for us?”

 

“Yeah, there’s something big happening down here… like… loads of different coloured ghosts and stuff.”

 

“OK?” Kevin sounded even more confused than normal and Holtzmann smirked. “We’ll be right there.”

 

“Did you get the address this time?” Abby’s muffled voice reached the blonde and her smirk widened.

 

“Oh, right, yeah. What’s the address?”

 

Holtzmann gave them an address in Queens, before hanging up and hurrying the rest of the short walk to the fire station. Letting herself in, she was immediately engulfed by the usual rushing around and preparation that went with a bust. Patty grasped her by the bicep, sending her a look of total relief, while Abby told her what was going on. Erin wondered out loud whether being back down to four Ghostbusters would make things a lot more difficult and all four of them loudly vetoed Kevin’s suggestion that he went with them, citing the need for someone to hold the fort to spare his feelings.

 

It wasn’t until they were halfway to the address that Abby realised what Holtzmann’s presence in Ecto-1 actually meant. The blonde shrugged, throwing the hearse around a corner and pressing her foot down harder on the accelerator, making Abby shriek and slam her hand onto the headrest of the driver’s seat; her well-practised signal that the younger woman was driving too fast for her liking.

 

“The doctor said she might be out for a while, so there was no point me hanging around.” Holtzmann explained quickly.

 

“You sure, baby?” Patty asked, frowning lightly. “I mean, you were pretty desperate to get down there.”

 

“Well, yeah. Besides, if I was there, I wouldn’t be here and you’d be two bodies down instead of one.”

 

“That is true.” Erin nodded, glancing sideways at Abby who was sending her a look. “What? It is.”

 

They went into the apartment building that the anonymous caller had told them about, much to the consternation of the residents. Several, incredibly embarrassing encounters later – including Patty busting in on an elderly couple asleep in bed, Erin completely mortifying herself by whipping back a shower curtain and coming face-to-face with a guy who made Kevin look weedy and Abby almost coming to blows with a man who was adamant she was trying to ‘probe’ him with her ‘twisty butt probe’ – Holtzmann was leaning casually against Ecto-1 and waiting for the others to join her.

 

“Well that was a waste of fucking time.” Patty muttered, dumping her proton pack in the trunk of the car. “We really need to start getting names. Any crazy person can leave anonymous tips and send us running about all over the city.”

 

“She’s got a point.” Erin sighed, tiredly, collapsing onto the back seat and only moving over when Abby prodded her in the head. “We’re leaving ourselves open to–”

 

“Complete fuckery.” The brunette beside her said, earning herself an eye roll and a deep sigh for her trouble. Leaning out of the hearse, Abby frowned at Holtzmann who had wandered away and was chatting to a young woman on the steps of the apartment building. The sight irritated her immensely and she scowled. “Holtz!”

 

“Yo, Holtzy!” Patty hollered. “Stop flirting and get your ass back over here. We wanna go home!”

 

Handing something to the woman, which her colleagues assumed was her number, Holtzmann sauntered back towards the hearse with her hands shoved deep in her pockets. She simply waggled her eyebrows and tapped the side of her nose when they asked what she’d been doing. Huffing irritably, Patty ordered her to get them back to the fire station as quickly as possible. As Holtzmann turned the car around, Erin sighed and contentedly pointed out that, for once, she hadn’t been on the receiving end of an ectoplasm sliming.

 

No sooner had they re-entered the fire station, than Kevin appeared and told them that there’d been another call while they were out. With a groan, Patty held out her hand for the address and followed the others as they turned tail and made their way straight back out to Ecto-1. Their drive over to Brooklyn seemed to take longer than necessary and, yet again, their bust was a complete failure.

 

At this, second, location, Erin tripped over a cat that came darting out of a shadowy hallway and almost sent her headfirst down the staircase. Patty got into an argument with a couple of teenage boys who were adamant that the whole ghost-busting thing was a massive fraud and involved massive amounts of green-screening and CGI. Abby, in frustration at finding nothing yet again, accidentally put her foot through the bottom panel of a door and ended up having to pay the resident of the apartment for the damage.

 

“How are you so calm about this?” Abby demanded as Holtzmann swaggered in the direction of the car. “What? Do some more flirting while we were making fucking idiots of ourselves?”

 

“Abby…” Erin sighed, her tiredness heightening her irritation at her friend’s bad language. “Is that really necessary?”

 

“Yes, it’s really necessary.”

 

“Calm your tits.” Patty ordered, lying across the back seats of the hearse for a moment, before sitting up and swinging her legs inside. “Let’s just get out of here, order Thai food and forget this crappy night ever happened.”

 

Abby and Erin nodded their approval, climbing into the car and waiting for Holtzmann to join them. It was an unwritten rule that she always drove and so none of them even considered sitting in the driver’s seat. They were all too tired to talk much as they headed back towards the fire station and, when they arrived, they dragged their feet and their equipment inside.

 

“If you are coming over here to tell us we’ve had another call out, don’t bother.” Abby told Kevin firmly as he wandered towards them the second they entered the building.

 

He stopped abruptly, glancing down at the piece of paper in his hand. “Uh… OK, then.”

 

As he turned and started back towards his desk, Erin rubbed her temples. “Kev, what is it?”

 

“Abby said–”

 

“I know, but I want to hear it.” She informed him with a weak smile.

 

“OK…”

 

“Kevin, just tell us!” Abby snapped, seeing him eyeing her warily. As though afraid to say anything, he merely held out his paper in her direction. “Unidentified ghosts in Jack’s son fights?”

 

“Jackson Heights?” Patty queried.

 

“Could have been.” Kevin agreed. “Rest of the address is on the back.”

 

As he scuttled away in the direction of the bathroom, the three woman sighed deeply in unison and made their way slowly back towards Ecto-1. Abby frowned at Holtzmann, who was still hanging around by the vehicle as though she had been expecting to be sent out again, but didn’t mention anything as they made their way through the city for the third time that evening. They weren’t in a better mood on the unsuccessful fourth or fifth calls, either.

 

“This has got to stop!” Patty exclaimed as they drew up outside the fire station just over three hours later. “I’m tired and my feet hurt and my stomach thinks my throat’s been cut.”

 

“I just want to take a bath, put on some fuzzy socks and watch a movie.” Erin sighed.

 

“I vote we ignore any calls until tomorrow.” Abby informed them seriously. “Who’s with me?”

 

“Can we do that?” Erin asked, screwing up her face as she looked between her friends. “Like… is that a thing we can do? Decide not to respond to calls?”

 

“I don’t think so.” Holtzmann shook her head, locking the car over her shoulder. “I think it’s probably our duty to respond to each and every call we get.”

 

“Nope, definitely not.” Abby shook her head. “I’m putting my foot down. No more call outs tonight. If anything’s going down, we’ll deal with it first thing in the morning.” Almost as though she was dreading the response, she smiled weakly at Kevin. “Any more calls?”

 

“Oh, no.” He shook his head, beaming broadly at her. “I unplugged the phone. It just kept ringing.”

 

Patty, Erin and Abby stared, open-mouthed, at him for a moment, before Patty broke into loud laughter and Erin crossed the room to give him a kiss. Abby shook her head before pulling out her cell phone to finally put in the order for Thai food that they’d all been dreaming about for several hours.

 

“Maybe one of us should go to the hospital?” Erin suggested in a quiet voice, leaning against the fridge and watching Abby refilling the coffee machine. “I mean, I know they’d phone if something was wrong, but Kevin has unplugged the phone and–”

 

“Yeah, we should probably do something about that.” Abby mused, looking over her shoulder to where Kevin and Patty were dragging the couch into a better position for them to watch a movie. “Kev? Hey! Kevin, go and plug the phone back in. OK, buddy?”

 

“OK, boss.” He agreed easily, leaving Patty to finish manoeuvring the couch on her own.

 

“Also…” Erin moved a little closer. “Do you think Holtzmann is being weird?”

 

“Like you thought Jac was being weird?”

 

“You don’t think she was being weird tonight?” Erin arched an eyebrow. “I mean, just leaving Jac at the hospital? How quiet she’s been? Holtz didn't even laugh when I ran into that wall.”

 

“Well, yeah, I guess…” Abby looked around the room, realising that there was no sign of the blonde anywhere. Her eyebrows furrowed as she realised which film they were going to watch. “Where is she? She loves _Weird Science_ …”

 

“Upstairs?” Erin glanced upwards, as though she’d be able to work out whether Holtzmann was in her laboratory by just staring at the ceiling. “I’ll go and check.”

 

“I’ll go. I think Kevin’s waiting for you.”

 

The taller woman pulled a face. “Great…”

 

“Trouble in paradise?”

 

“Yeah.” Erin shrugged. “Well, no… I’m just not sure this is gonna work out.”

 

Abby tried not to look too happy about that pronouncement. “Oh… that’s shame…”

 

“He’s a sweet guy, he’s just not…”

 

“Does this mean that we’ll have to look for a new receptionist? We’ve only just got him to realise that he needs to cover his ears, instead of his eyes, if something’s too loud.”

 

“Hopefully not.” Erin shrugged. “It’s up to him, obviously, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to work with him when we break up.”

 

“When?”

 

“Sorry?” Erin glanced at Abby, her eyebrows furrowed.

 

“You said ‘when’ not ‘if’. I was just… never mind.” Abby smiled weakly, pointing towards the room above. “I’m gonna go and find Holtzmann.”


	17. Chapter 17

“Holtz!” Abby smiled warmly at the blonde who was bending over something at her workbench. “Food is almost here and Patty and Kevin have rigged up the couch cinema for _Weird Science_.”

 

“Oh… I think I might give it a miss.” Holtzmann replied with a shrug, not looking at her friend. “I want to get on with this.”

 

Abby frowned. “Give it a miss? You love _Weird Science_ ; it’s your third favourite film…”

 

“I just don’t feel like it tonight, OK?” She snapped.

 

“Holtzmann? What’s going on?”

 

“Nothing! Just leave me alone!”

 

Unused to the reaction she had elicited from her friend, Abby backed out of the laboratory and retreated down to the first floor. At the three questioning gazes that met her, she simply shook her head and crossed the room to get a beer out of the fridge. Restraining themselves until Abby dropped onto the couch, the others waited semi-patiently to hear why Holtzmann wasn’t joining them.

 

“How does she have the energy to work after the night we’ve just had?” Erin asked, flopping back against the cushions. Abby was interested to see that she had placed herself between Patty and the arm of the couch rather than being draped over Kevin like she usually was. “I can barely keep my eyes open. At least there was no slime.”

 

“Want me to go try?” Patty offered, making to stand up.

 

Abby shook her head. “I don’t think there’s much point.”

 

“Really? She that mad?”

 

“Yup…” The brunette rubbed her shoulder thoughtfully. “I might go to the hospital.”

 

“Holtzy said that there wasn’t much point us being there at the moment.” Patty reminded her.

 

“Will they even let you in at this time?” Erin asked, glancing at her watch.

 

“It’s worth a try.” Abby shrugged, walking towards the door. “I’ll call you if there’s any news.”

 

“Want me to come with you?”

 

“Thanks, Erin, but–”

 

Not waiting for an answer, Erin hurried across to Abby and squeezed her arm, shooting her a warm smile. Nodding, the two scientists waved at Patty and Kevin before leaving the fire station and heading onto the street. Hailing a cab, they climbed into the back and directed the driver towards the hospital.

 

“So… call me crazy, but things between you and Kevin aren’t too great, huh?” Abby started quietly, almost as though she was afraid of what the reaction or Erin’s answer might be.

 

Instead of getting mad, Erin simply flopped back against the seat and sighed deeply. “The sex is great–”

 

“That I did not need to know.”

 

“But there’s just something missing, you know?”

 

Abby nodded slowly. “Yeah, I think I know.”

 

“There’s no… connection. There’s no depth to the relationship. I can’t talk to him. I don’t feel things with him like I feel with…”

 

“Me?”

 

“Abby…” Erin shook her head, looking down.

 

“OK, OK.” Holding up her hands, Abby turned her gaze away from the woman beside her and looked out of the window instead. “I get the message.”

 

There was a long pause, before an indignant snort broke the silence. “That’s it?”

 

“What?”

 

“That’s all you’ve got to say on the matter?”

 

“Well…” Abby blinked in confusion. “I guess? Your tone suggested that you weren’t up for a discussion, so I figured…”

 

“No, Abby, no.” Erin shook her head emphatically. “When has that ever stopped you before?”

 

“I…”

 

“No, Abby. Me not wanting to talk about something has never, _never_ , stopped you before.” Erin continued, her voice becoming shriller by the second. “When I didn’t want to talk about seeing Mrs DeMille’s ghost in my bedroom. When I didn’t want to talk about Jimmy Thompson breaking my heart when I was seventeen. When I didn’t want to discuss the fact that my first kiss, my first _ever_ kiss, was with you. When I couldn’t talk about the fact that I was so totally in love with you that it made me ill.”

 

“I thought that was the bad taco…”

 

“Shut up!” Erin scowled furiously. “I know you think I made the biggest mistake of my life when I walked out on our book, but I did it and–”

 

“No, I think you made the biggest mistake of _both_ our lives when you walked out on _me_. I don’t care that you walked out on the research or the book. I care that you walked out on _me_.” Abby told her bluntly. Seeing the other woman’s eyes widening, she sighed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I–”

 

“It’s true.” Erin almost whispered.

 

“Here we go ladies.” The driver pulled up outside the hospital and looked expectantly at them.

 

Not knowing what else to do at that precise moment, Erin fumbled in her purse for some bills and thrust them into his waiting hand, mumbling for him to keep the change. The second they were both out of the cab, he drove away, leaving them alone outside the hospital entrance pointedly avoiding meeting each other’s eyes.

 

“Shall we…? We should…?”

 

Erin was prevented from rambling uncomfortably any further by the feel of soft lips covering hers and gentle hands cupping her cheeks. For a split second, she froze and stiffened against the touch. Then her brain caught up with the rest of her and Erin relaxed, surging closer to Abby and wrapping her in a tight embrace. For several moments they simply stood, blocking the entrance, kissing as though the years they’d been apart had never happened. A warm, comforting familiarity swept over both of them but, rather than finding it stifling, it seemed to fill both women with a sense of empowerment.

 

“I missed that.” Abby murmured against her lips as they pulled apart. “I missed you.”

 

“I missed you too.”

 

“What about…?”

 

“Kevin?” Erin sighed, rubbing her forehead as she stepped backwards. “I’ll talk to him.”

 

“Jac said he’d be OK with it… this…” Abby informed her, motioning between them as she turned to walk into the hospital.

 

“You talked to Jac about us?” Erin asked, frowning lightly as she followed the other woman inside. “When? Why?”

 

“It just came up. She said that Holtz had mentioned we had a history and–”

 

“Holtz knows?”

 

“Uhh… yes?”

 

“Great!” Erin threw up her hands, speeding up towards Jac’s room. “That’s just great! Does Patty know, too?”

 

“I don’t understand…” Abby admitted. “Can we talk about–?”

 

She broke off as a nurse rushed out of the room they were heading for and they caught a glimpse of the commotion that was going on inside. Pushing past the stream of medical professionals that were milling around, the two Ghostbusters stared at the bed. Jac looked pale and wasn’t moving at all. The doctor was leaning over her, lifting her eyelids and checking her pupil responses carefully.

 

“What’s going on?”

 

“We almost lost her for a little while there, but she’s back now and stable.” He told them, not sugar-coating the revelation.

 

“You… you almost lost her?” Erin breathed. “How could you possibly lose her? She’s hooked up to all those machines! Where did she go?”

 

“No, Erin…” Abby reached out and squeezed her hand, never moving her eyes away from the doctor. “I think he means she nearly died.”

 

“She nearly died?” Erin shrieked. “What?”

 

“OK…” Abby patted her hand gently and pushed her down into the chair beside the bed. “So, she’s stable?”

 

The doctor nodded, smiling reassuringly. “She’s stable, we caught it before any damage was done.”

 

“But what does that mean?” Erin demanded, leaning forward worriedly. “How did this happen?”

 

“Well…” The man looked a little uncomfortable. “Somehow the saline drip she was on got mixed up and she was put on morphine instead.”

 

“What?”

 

“And… all the monitors were switched off…”

 

Abby’s mouth dropped open. “Are you kidding me right now? How does that even happen?”

 

“Well… the nurse came in to check her as your friend was leaving, but she said that Ms Beckman was asleep, so the nurse decided to leave her for a while as she was no longer deemed a high risk patient and needed her rest.”

 

“Which friend?”

 

“The blonde one… kinda strange?”

 

“Holtzmann.” Abby and Erin chorused.

 

“So between you leaving and Holtzmann leaving this happened?” Abby asked Erin, motioning towards the sleeping woman.

 

“I guess so…”

 

There was a slight movement from the bed and a deep sigh. Immediately three sets of eyes snapped to look at Jac who was slowly waking up. At the concerned expressions on the faces peering at her, she frowned and pulled herself up to a seated position. Erin and Abby jerked forward, arms outstretched in her direction, but she waved them away and settled herself more comfortably against the pillows.

 

“What happened?”

 

“You nearly died.” Erin blurted out before she could stop herself.

 

“Oh… OK.”

 

“OK?”

 

“Well… I’m not dead, so…”

 

Abby peered at her closely. “You know what happened.”

 

“No I…” Jac’s eyes widened dramatically. “Where’s Holtzmann?”

 

“H-Holtzmann?” Erin leant closer. “Why are you asking about Holtzmann? Was this…?”

 

“No, not her. Definitely not her.” The younger woman swung her legs out of bed and grabbed at the metal rail beside her to steady herself quickly. “We need to find her quickly.”

 

“Is she in danger?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Ms Beckman, I would advise you not to–” The doctor started as his patient wobbled dangerously and almost overbalanced.

 

“Your advice is noted.” She replied, continuing to push her legs into her jeans. “But I’m still going.”

 

“Patty’s going to voicemail.” Abby said, staring at the screen of her cell phone.

 

“So is Kevin.” Erin added.

 

“OK, this is bad.” Jac muttered, heading unsteadily for the door. “This is very, very bad.”

 

“What’s going on?”

 

As Abby’s hand closed gently around her wrist and Erin placed her hand on the younger woman’s shoulder, Jac squeezed her eyes closed. She sent the doctor a meaningful look and waited until he took the hint and left the room, before she blurted out the whole story. Abby and Erin listened to her in silence until she ran out of steam. Neither of them said anything for a few beats after she stopped talking.

 

“We will talk more about this later.” Abby informed her seriously, hurt evident in her eyes. “But first we need to deal with this situation.”

 

Sighing, but nodding nevertheless, the younger woman followed her colleagues out of the room and through the corridors to the hospital. She doubted that they would be her colleagues for very long after this incident. Briefly wondering whether they would actually go as far as getting Mayor Bradley to force the government to deport her, Jac climbed into the back of the cab that Erin had hailed and tried to disappear into the leather of the seats as she listened to the two older women arguing about whether Abby should have realised that Erin was right and spotted something was wrong earlier.

 

When they pulled up outside the fire station, all three were alarmed to see that it was in complete darkness. Even when everyone had gone home for the night there were several lights left on; usually due to Holtzmann getting distracted by her work until she was ready to drop and forgetting to switch them off on her way out, much to Abby’s annoyance because she was the one who had to deal with the bills. They let themselves into the building and flipped the main switches, flooding the ground floor with light.

 

“Holtzmann?”

 

“Patty? Kevin?”

 

“You guys here?”

 

When there was no response, Erin shot Jac a dirty look and headed for the stairs, hitting the light switch with the heel of her palm as she went. The younger woman opened her mouth to apologise yet again, but closed it at the disappointed expression on Abby’s face as she followed the other scientist at a slightly slower rate. Thinking hard, Jac followed them even more slowly until she reached the second floor.

 

“My apartment…” She suddenly announced, making both Erin and Abby turn to look at her. “Holtzmann must have gone to my apartment.”

 

“It’s not particularly likely that they’ll be there now, is it?” Erin snapped.

 

“It’s worth a shot… I’m going to check it out.”

 

As she turned and made her way down the staircase, Abby shouted after her, dragging her attention back towards them. “The doctor said we can’t leave you on your own yet.”

 

“We have to find them.”

 

“Of course we have to find them!” Erin told her angrily. Then she sighed and softened, shaking her head. “But you’re still… you just got out of the hospital. Maybe you should–”

 

“Thanks, but no thanks, Erin.” Jac replied calmly, still heading for the door. “This is all my fault. I’ll handle it.”

 

“You’re a Ghostbuster,” Abby reminded her, catching up and grabbing the keys to Ecto-1, which were hanging on the nail where Holtzmann usually left them, “we fix things _together_. We will fix this together.”


	18. Chapter 18

“Holtzy, baby, are you trying to kill us?” Patty demanded, jumping slightly as she turned and found Holtzmann standing directly behind the couch where she and Kevin were lounging.

 

She hadn’t seen much point in everyone missing out on movie night and so, when Erin and Abby had headed off to the hospital and Holtzmann had refused to leave the laboratory, Patty had ordered Kevin to open the chips and they’d settled down to watch the film. She knew that she liked the young man and generally enjoyed his company, but she hadn’t realised just how funny he actually could be and before long he had her clutching her sides and wiping tears out of her eyes.

 

Holtzmann laughed, slightly oddly. “Of course not. Kill you? Why would I want to kill you?”

 

“OK, you’re acting all kinds of weird and we’re trying to watch Ilan Mitchell-Smith and Anthony Michael Hall create themselves the perfect girlfriend, right Kevin?”

 

“Right.” He nodded his agreement, shovelling a handful of popcorn into his mouth as his attention returned swiftly to the screen. “She is really pretty.”

 

“Can I see your cell phones?”

 

“Why?”

 

“Mine’s got no signal so I wanted to see if it was the network or just mine.”

 

Kevin tossed her his phone, while Patty sighed and indicated towards her desk where hers lay. Holtzmann walked over and placed the two cell phones side-by-side on the surface. She looked at them for a moment, before pulling a hammer out of the back pocket of her overalls and bringing it down on the handsets with alarming venom. At once the two figures on the couch leapt to their feet shouting angrily at her.

 

“What the fuck are you doing?” Patty bellowed, leaping towards the blonde and attempting to snatch the tool from her hands. "My baby!"

 

“Hey!” Kevin almost cried. “That’s mine!”

 

Before either of them could do anything else, Holtzmann raised something that looked suspiciously like a Taser and suddenly everything went black for both Patty and Kevin. Looking between them for a long moment, the blonde moved across to the woman first. With strength she definitely hadn’t had before Katie had possessed her, Holtzmann lifted Patty with ease, slinging her over her shoulder and carrying her outside.

 

Unlocking Ecto-1 with the set of keys she had in her pocket, Holtzmann settled Patty on the back seat and returned inside for Kevin. With a care that the scientist had never before possessed, she made sure that all the lights were switched off and the door was locked, before climbing into the driver’s seat of the Ghostbusters’ vehicle and driving away from the fire station.

 

Using Holtzmann’s knowledge of both paranormal New York and the devices that she had been working on for far longer than Katie had even known ghosts existed they headed across the city swiftly.

 

Drawing up outside a warehouse, Holtzmann killed the engine and climbed out of Ecto-1. Grabbing the crowbar from the seat beside her, she crossed the concrete and used the tool in her head to force the padlock and pull the doors open. Returning to the car, she lifted Kevin and carried him inside, returning for Patty in a couple of moments.

 

“Sorry about this, guys,” she muttered through gritted teeth, securing them firmly to a couple of chairs, “nothing personal. I just need a bit of leverage in case things don’t go according to plan.”

 

When she was satisfied that they weren’t going anywhere should they wake up, Holtzmann returned to the car and retrieved the piece of technology that she and Jac had been working on for weeks. Frowning at the scribbled notes she'd made on a scrap of paper ripped out of a notebook, the blonde gingerly made her way up the metal staircase with the device in her arms. Peering over the edge of the metal balcony that ran around the north side of the warehouse, she checked that Patty and Kevin were still slumped against their restraints, before retuning her attention to the situation at hand.

 

Placing the device in the middle of the floor, she took a step backwards and chewed her lip thoughtfully, surveying it critically and wondering whether the changes she had made would cause it to work as she had hoped. Taking another look at the equations and instructions on the paper in her hand, she crouched beside the box and pressed a series of buttons on the control panel hidden on the side.

 

Seconds later, it began to glow bright blue.

 

* * *

 

“I don’t think we need to check Patty or Kevin’s apartments.”

 

The trio had made their way to Jac’s apartment and found nothing, but the weapons and containment unit that Holtzmann had taken with her when she went round earlier. It confirmed their theories that the blonde had probably taken it upon herself to try and catch Katie on her own, which had resulted in the possession.

 

On returning to the fire station, they had separated to look for anything else that might give them a clue as to what had happened. Erin had appeared, moments later, holding up the smashed remnants of two cell phones. From the diamantes hanging off one and the Batman case attached to the other, they easily deduced that they had formally belonged to Patty and Kevin.

 

“That explains why we can’t get hold of them, then.” Abby sighed as Erin placed them gingerly on the edge of the reception desk.

 

“This is all my fault.” Jac ground out, kicking the leg of the desk angrily. “I shouldn’t have come here. I should have stayed in Cardiff and–”

 

“Yes, well, you didn’t. So now we’re here.” Abby replied bluntly.

 

“We’re here and we need to work this out.” Erin agreed. She looked between the other two women, seeing them caught in some kind of staring contest and decided that maybe they needed a moment to work out whatever it was. “I’m going to look over here… see if there are any clues in Holtzmann’s notes.”

 

“You brought her here.” Abby said in a quiet voice. “You came in here, became part of our family, let us trust you and all the time…”

 

“I never meant for this to happen.”

 

“No, I’m sure you didn’t.” The older woman nodded, looking unmoved by the sadness on Jac’s face. “You just meant to come here, get us to trust you and then take advantage of our resources and knowledge to further your own agenda?”

 

“At first, yes.” Jac admitted with a sigh. “I didn’t know you and I was hurting. I was grieving and I thought… I thought that I could use you to get her back. Katie was everything to me, Abby. She was all I had and I would have done anything she asked. When she asked me to do this for her...”

 

“Did you think, at any point, that maybe you should say something?”

 

“I did. I told Holtzmann.”

 

“You did?”

 

“She wanted me to tell you guys but I… I couldn’t face how upset you’d be.” The younger woman looked down, forcing herself to stare at the mangled cell phones instead of the disappointment on Abby’s face. “For the first time I felt like there was somewhere I actually fitted… like I actually mattered. I came close to telling you after Holtz and I were attacked at my apartment, but then you started talking about me being part of the family and I just chickened out.”

 

“It’s time to choose sides.”

 

“I choose you.” Jac blurted out immediately, not even needing to consider her answer. “Every time. I choose you and Erin and Patty and Holtzmann and Kevin. I choose the Ghostbusters.”

 

“Then we’ve got work to do.”

 

There was a pause. “I don’t understand. That’s it?”

 

“No, of course that’s not it.” Abby told her irritably. “I’m incredibly pissed off and I’m really fucking hurt, but right now we need to find the others before something really terrible happens. I don’t know about you, but I don't think a ghost running around with the capability to gain a solid form is going to escape many people’s attention and if that technology falls into the wrong hands then we are royally screwed.”

 

“OK. Understood.” Jac nodded, relieved that she hadn’t been kicked out without at least a chance to redeem herself. “Are… are you OK?”

 

“I was possessed and I can tell you for a fact that it completely sucks.” Abby informed Jac seriously. The younger woman opened her mouth to speak, but shut it rapidly as the scientist shook her head. “No. Don’t speak. I remember it with horrifying clarity. I remember everything I said and everything I did and I still feel sick about it. I had absolutely no control over what I was doing, but I was trapped inside my own head screaming, _screaming_ , at myself to stop.”

 

“Abby…”

 

“No. I was there… I was hurting my best friend… I threw Holtzmann out of a window. She could have died!” Abby sniffled as tears fell from her eyes and dropped onto her shirt. “She could have died and it was all my fault and I… I couldn’t do anything.”

 

“I’m so, so sorry.”

 

The older woman sighed irritably. “I don’t want you to be sorry!”

 

“Then… I don’t understand.”

 

“You really are dense, aren’t you?”

 

“I guess.” Jac shrugged. “I’m sor–”

 

“Don’t say it!” Abby warned her. “We have to fix this. Holtzmann deserves none of this. I have to protect her from… everything. I _need_ to protect her.”

 

“You think I don’t know that?” Jac replied in a flat voice. “I want to find her and stop all this. I need to find Patty and Kevin in one piece and… I know what it’s like to be possessed. The last thing I would ever want would be for Holtz to have to deal with that… with Katie inside her head.” She turned away, wrapping her arms around herself. “Oh my god… Katie’s inside her head telling her… fuck knows what.”

 

“What are you worried about Katie telling her?”

 

“She knows exactly how I feel about Holtz. I know Katie… she’ll be taunting her and twisting it and making her feel about two inches tall. Wonderful, amazing, beautiful Holtzmann…”

 

There was a long pause and then Abby nodded, suddenly business-like and all tears forgotten. “Right, so what’s the plan? You know this ghost better than anyone. Katie’s in Holtzmann’s head, but you can get inside hers. Tell us what we need to do.”

 

“She was always interested in lay lines… the map that Patty had up above her desk.” Jac thought quickly. “She was interested in Rowan and what he did.”

 

“You think she might try to recreate what he did?”

 

“I don’t think so… She was fixated on becoming corporeal again.”

 

“OK, what if she thinks she can use the lay lines to charge that ghost grabber Holtz was working on in order to give herself a fully solid form?” Abby mused, glancing towards Erin quickly.

 

“How far had Holtzmann got with the ghost grabber?” The taller woman asked, pausing in her pacing for a moment.

 

“As far as I know she’d managed to get it to a point where it was ready to be tested. I don’t know whether she actually did or not…”

 

“So we’re thinking that they’re going somewhere to charge the device using lay lines so that Katie can come back?”

 

Jac ran a hand through her hair, sighing deeply. “Possibly… maybe… I don’t know.”

 

“Great.”

 

“There are so many places where they could be.” Erin shook her head, pouring over the map she had taken down from the wall above Patty’s desk.

 

“Oh my god… I’m such an idiot…” Jac muttered, staring wide eyed at her friends. “I can find out exactly where they are! I can’t believe I forgot.”

 

“What? How?”

 

“You were complaining about Holtzmann just taking off in the car, remember?” She asked Erin, moving quickly towards Kevin’s reception desk and yanking open the top drawer. “You were worried she’d just leave it somewhere and totally forget about it?”

 

“Not as irrational as it sounds.” Erin told her firmly, ignoring Abby’s eye-roll. “She did, once… took it over to Brooklyn and then caught a bus back… completely forgot she drove the car there and then couldn’t find it for three hours when we went back.”

 

“Right, well,” Jac shrugged, completely unsurprised by the story, “so I put a tracking device on Ecto-1, just in case. It follows the same technology as the treggs, but I didn’t tell Holtz about it because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. And then I forgot about it, because I didn’t have to use it.”

 

Abby laughed, catching on to what she was getting at. “So Katie won’t know that we can track them, because Holtz doesn’t know!”

 

“Exactly!”

 

They crowded around the tablet that Jac placed on the desk and waited for the image to stabilise. The fluorescent green star, identical to the ones Holtzmann had argued for on their personal tracking devices, was steady and still. All three women looked up slowly at exactly the same moment, meeting each other’s eyes and smiling widely as they realised what that meant.

 

“We found them?”

 

“We found them.”


	19. Chapter 19

As soon as they’d locked onto the location they needed to find their way to, Jac rushed up the staircase to the laboratory she shared with Holtzmann while Abby and Erin had collected their jumpsuits and all the equipment they might need. Returning to join the others down on the ground floor the youngest member of the team placed something, almost reverently, on Kevin’s desk. She stood back, chancing a glance at her colleagues.

 

“What’s that?” Erin asked, stepping forward with one hand outstretched almost as though she couldn’t stop herself.

 

“Wait!” Jac grasped her wrist gently and pulled it back. “Sorry… it’s untested and unstable and nuclear and possibly incredibly dangerous but at the moment it’s our best chance.”

 

“The portable vortex?” Abby breathed, bending over the device and looking at it closely. “You finally got it working?”

 

“Well it hasn’t exploded in the last few days.”

 

“What do you mean it’s untested and unstable and nuclear and possibly dangerous?” Erin asked warily.

 

“She said possibly _incredibly_ dangerous.” Abby pointed out with a shrug.

 

Jac winced. “It’s proved much more difficult than expected to get it working consistently. But it’s the only thing that’ll come close enough to being able to drag Katie out of Holtzmann’s body.”

 

Nodding, taking her word for that fact, Abby and Erin followed as she carried the device incredibly carefully out of the fire station. They debated their next move in hushed voices, Erin thinking that it was a terrible idea to use a cab to take them to wherever their friends were and Abby pointing out that they had very little choice. Ecto-1 was gone and it was either a cab or an Uber. Erin was constantly lecturing them on the possible dangers of using Uber drivers, despite any counter argument that was thrown at her, so eventually she was forced to back down and agree to take a cab.

 

Their driver attempted to make conversation as he took them towards their destination, particularly interested in their equipment, but none of the women was in any mood to indulge him. They sat in complete silence, Abby watching the green star on the map in front of her, knuckles white as she gripped the tablet tightly. Jac’s eyes remained glued to the vortex cube as they drove, terrified about what might happen.

 

“Here?” Erin wrinkled her nose as she looked up at the warehouse. The cab driver had dropped them off, accepted their fare and driven off. “You’re sure?”

 

“Certain.” Abby nodded, pointing off to the right. “Ecto-1 is here…”

 

“What are we waiting out here for, then?” Jac asked determinedly, striding towards the building.

 

The other two followed quickly, unsure about whether they should just be walking into the warehouse without a plan or a backup plan and nothing but an untested, potentially disastrous, piece of equipment. They didn’t have much choice, though, when they watched Jac disappear through the double doors.

 

Crossing the concrete floor at a jog, they realised what the younger woman was doing and joined her as quickly as they could. Before they had managed to release any of the knots holding Patty and Kevin on their chairs, let alone bring them round, there was a loud, clatter from somewhere behind them and then the sound of boots on metal.

 

“Up there!” Erin gasped, pointing towards a half-balcony that ran across the warehouse to the right of where they were standing.

 

“You stay here.” Jac ordered, sprinting towards the steps with the vortex cube held tightly in her arms.

 

Torn between leaving their friends defenceless and going after her, the two scientists hurried to untie Patty’s ropes. Abby gently tapped her friend’s cheek, calling her name until the historian blinked several times, shifting in the seat.

 

After checking that she was unharmed and telling her what was going on, Abby and Erin left Patty to free Kevin while they climbed the metal staircase to see what was going on. Gasping, Erin surged forward, finding herself being held back by Abby, who had wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into her side.

 

In front of them, the portal cube had been discarded and Holtzmann had backed Jac against the thin bars of the railings that ran along the edge of the floor. Looking past her, they could see the drop down to the concrete floor below. The younger woman was pressed against the thin metal bars holding her nerve and holding up a hand to keep her colleagues back.

 

“OK, Katie, get out of Holtzmann, now.” Abby ordered in an authoritative tone.

 

Holtzmann laughed. “I don’t think I will, actually. I quite like it in here...”

 

“Come, on, Katie… it’s over. Give it up.” Jac attempted to reason with her in a gentle tone.

 

As Abby and Erin pulled the guns from their proton packs, aiming them in the blonde’s direction, Holtzmann grasped a fistful of Jac’s t-shirt and raised her smoothly into the air, holding her as high above her head as the length of her arm would allow. All three brunettes stared at her, their eyes growing wide as she took a couple of steps forward so that the young woman was being dangled in thin air over the edge of the balcony.

 

“Back off, ‘busters.” Holtzmann growled out, turning her head to glare at Erin and Abby ferociously. An almost animalistic expression flashed in her eyes.

 

“Why are you still in there?” Jac demanded, choking over her words as she struggled to breathe properly. “You should have been running around in a solid form by now.”

 

“It didn’t work!” She snapped. “That stupid device didn’t work. It glowed for a few minutes and then blew up in my face. You're not half as clever as you think you are.”

 

“Then it really is over.” Erin stepped forward, stopping abruptly as Holtzmann scowled at her. “Katie… Jac’s right. You’ve got to give up on this. We’re not going to help you… there’s no way out.”

 

“No!”

 

“Use the vortex cube.” Jac gasped, kicking her legs as Holtzmann held her further away from the safety of the platform. She gulped, struggling to look down at the drop below her. “Activate it now!”

 

“If we do then you’re going to fall.” Abby gasped out, her eyes wide and horrified. “Jac, you’re going to fall!”

 

“Just do it!” The younger woman ordered harshly. “Hurry! You have to do it.”

 

“Holtzmann isn’t strong enough to hold you on her own.” Erin reasoned, her arms already aching from the strain of single-handedly holding Holtzmann and Katie trapped in the stream of her proton gun. “You will almost definitely fall.”

 

“I might not. Besides, I don’t care!” Jac shouted. “You have to help Holtz. Just flip the main switch and twist the knob on the side to start the electron stream. As long as it’s close enough to her then Katie will be sucked out of Holtzmann and sent back where she belongs. At least… that’s what should happen. If not... I don't know what's going to happen. I'm sorry.”

 

“Erin?” Abby seemed torn about what to do.

 

“Come on… Erin, you’re far less forgiving than Abby is. I betrayed you and now you need to forget about me and help Holtzmann. You’ve got to protect her; she’s one hundred per cent totally innocent in all of this and she doesn’t deserve any of what’s happening. There’s nothing to think about. Open the portal.”

 

“Patty!” Abby shouted, realising that Erin was coming round to the idea. “Anything down there that could be used as a safety net?”

 

“Umm… Yes!” Came the slightly muffled reply. “Come on, Kevin! Work with me here!”

 

“I’m trying, but it’s just so heavy!”

 

“It’s a tarp covered in foam, man! What is wrong with you? That's your cousin up there!”

 

“Holtzmann… Holtz.” Heard Jac’s voice, Abby whipped her head back to the scene unfolding in front of her. “Like I told you before, this is not your fault. This isn’t you and we all know that. I am truly sorry, more sorry than I’ve been about anything in my life, that you got dragged into all this. Do not blame yourself. I don’t and neither does anyone else, OK? You’re alright, Jillian. You’re gonna be fine.” There was a pause and then she spoke again, her voice much harder. “Do it, Gilbert.”

 

Abby immediately felt the increased pressure on her proton pack as Erin removed her finger from the trigger of her own gun to reach for the vortex portal. She still wasn’t happy with this version of the plan, but she could see that she would get nowhere trying to argue any further. Following Jac’s instructions, Erin managed to bring the vortex to life, kicking it closer to Holtzmann as the swirling purple glow started up.

 

There was a grinding sound and everyone held their breath and waited to see if, yet again, the device was going to give up. A heart-stopping sputtering sounded, before the speed of the whirling light increased and Holtzmann started to glow. There was a high-pitched, furious scream and an indistinct blue form was ripped out of the petite blonde and dragged towards the portable vortex. No one breathed until, with a final shriek, the ghost was sucked inside.

 

A loud bang met their ears, smoke pouring out of the top of the now silent, still device. There was, however, no reappearance of the spirit and they hoped beyond hope that their plan had worked and the portable vortex hadn’t malfunctioned or failed at the last moment. It was only then that all three women questioned whether there was a chance the wrong spirit had been sucked out of Holtzmann’s body.

 

“Holtz?” Abby almost whispered into the silence. “Holtzy, is that you?”

 

“Yeah, I… I think I’m me? I certainly feel like me. I have an overwhelming urge to make an inappropriate sound or comment.”

 

“You’re definitely you, then.” Erin agreed, relief flooding through her at the realisation.

 

“Guys? Little help?”

 

At once Erin and Abby leapt forward to lean over the railings and look down at the young woman who was still dangling there. She was hanging from a bar across the bottom of the platform by one hand, barely managing to keep her grip. At once Holtzmann lay on the metal grating and reached for her wrist. Using both hands, the blonde struggled to keep hold of the younger woman, despite she doing her very best. With the other two women’s help, she just about managed to drag Jac upwards, not letting go of her even when they had collapsed in a heap on the concrete floor.

 

“Holtzmann… I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry.” The younger woman blurted out, unable to meet her eyes. “I can’t believe you had to go through that and it was all my fault and I feel absolutely terrible about it.”

 

“I went back there on my own and–”

 

“No, shut up, Holtzmann.” Jac ordered. “Don’t even try to take any of the blame for this situation away from me.”

 

“I wasn’t trying to.” The blonde informed her with a shrug. “I was just curious.”

 

“About?”

 

“Whether you were ever going to tell me that you’ve been wondering what I sound like when I cum?”

 

“Oh, oh god…” Erin shot to her feet and leant over the railing once more. “You need a hand down there, guys? Not a hand. Why did I say hand? There are no hands.”

 

“I’d better go and check she’s not going to implode.” Abby muttered, following the other woman as she darted away.

 

“So?”

 

“So what?” Jac asked, nervously.

 

“Were you ever going to tell me?”

 

“Maybe… eventually.” The younger woman shrugged. “Probably not.”

 

“Why?” Holtzmann fixed her with a look that made it seem as though she was reading Jac’s thoughts.

 

“Because we work… worked… together and it wouldn’t be professional to–”

 

The blonde’s eyes widened. “Worked? Are you going somewhere?”

 

“What? No? But I’m not going to be able to stay a Ghostbuster after this. No one’s going to want to look at me. Hell, I don’t want to look at me.”

 

“I don’t mind looking at you.” Holtzmann shrugged. “I quite like looking at you. It’s one of my favourite pastimes, actually.”

 

“Why?” Jac shook her head. “I did this… I got Patty and Kevin kidnapped and tied to chairs. I got you possessed. I made Abby and Erin feel mad and worried and betrayed and terrified all at the same time.”

 

“I think you’ll find that I was the one who tied Patty and Kevin to chairs and I was the one who was dangling you over that railing.”

 

“Holtzmann… you weren’t doing those things.”

 

“I was, though.”

 

“No, you weren’t.” Jac shook her head, reaching out and taking the blonde’s hand in hers. “That _wasn’t_ you. I would bet anything that you were fighting non-stop to try and stop Katie.”

 

“I might have been.”

 

“You cannot blame yourself for this.” The younger woman almost pleaded. “No one else is or ever will. You are, by far, the most beloved person I’ve ever met. Every one of those women, and Kevin, loves you so much and would put themselves in the most ridiculously dangerous situations to protect you.” She shook her head, waving the hand that wasn’t linked with Holtzmann’s around in the air. “You do realise, though, that it’s not just us who adore you? Everyone out there loves you. Those free drinks that we get when we go out; they’re all because of you. Do you understand how many conversations I’ve overheard in the women’s toilets about how amazing you are, because no one knows who I am so they don’t bother to stop talking when I walk in? I know far more about what those women would love to do to you than I really feel I should.”

 

“Really?” Holtzmann grinned. “Like what?”

 

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

 

“Jealous?”

 

“Yes!” Two sets of wide-eyes met each other. “No. I mean… that’s not the point.” Jac pulled herself together. “What was the original point?”

 

“Whether you were going to tell me that you wondered what I sound like when I cum?” Holtzmann repeated her question, a smirk twisting her lips.

 

“Right… that…”

 

“It’s OK to wonder, you know?” The blonde continued, a dangerous glint in her eyes. “It sounds like most of New York have been.”

 

“But I can’t wonder, Holtz. I shouldn’t. I shouldn’t ever have been in a position to wonder. You deserve far more than me wondering. You deserve the absolute best… everything you ever dreamt of.”

 

“I deserve whatever I want.”

 

Jac falters, unsure whether her friend had got the wrong end of the stick or whether she was just agreeing with her. “Of course you do. That’s what I’m saying.”

 

“Right.”

 

“Right." There was a long pause as they stared at each other. Then Jac blinked slowly. “… I’m confused.”

 

Holtzmann beamed at her. “Of course you are.”

 

“But what are you actually–” She was cut off by the feeling of Holtzmann’s lips on hers. She made an indignant sound, half-heartedly pushing the blonde away. “What are you doing?”

 

“Kissing you.” Holtzmann replied simply. “I’ve had your ex-girlfriend in my head. I know you know what kissing is.”

 

“That’s… right.”

 

“Stop with the ‘right’. Just…”

 

Rather than finishing her sentence, Holtzmann leant in and pressed her lips against Jac’s again. This time there was no half-hearted resistance and the younger woman tangled her fingers in the blonde curls. Almost as quickly as it had started, the kiss ended when Holtzmann pulled away. She fixed Jac with a bright smile, winked and then jumped to her feet.

 

“Come on… let’s get back to the fire station. I want to check this bad boy out!” She nudged the portable vortex with the toe of her boot. It sparked alarmingly. “My bad.”

 

“Yeah… maybe don’t do that?” Jac suggested, climbing much more slowly to her feet.


	20. Chapter 20

“I need to go.” Jac mumbled, leaning in the doorway and forcing herself to meet the eyes staring back at her. Her resolve failed after a couple of moments and she looked down at her boots, her hands shoved firmly into her pockets. “I’ve learnt so much from you guys and I’m so grateful for everything. So… thanks… and sorry. Again.”

 

“Thanks? That’s what you’re going with?”

 

“Yo, baby, you lost your mind?”

 

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

 

“What’s happening?”

 

Everyone but Holtzmann reacted instantly and at the same time to Jac's words. The blonde simply stared at her, furrowing her eyebrows and trying to work out what was going on inside the younger woman’s mind. Apparently it was more complicated than any of the formulas she’d worked on recently, because she reached for the goggles sitting on the top of her head and pulled them down over her eyes.

 

“Where are you going?” Erin asked, crossing the room and standing in front of Jac with her arms folded across her chest. “Why are you going?”

 

“She’s running away.” Abby called from the couch. “Erin, you’ve got previous; talk some sense into her.”

 

The temperature in the room noticeably dropped after her words. From the expression that appeared on Abby’s face, she was preparing herself for some dramatic backlash for her thoughtless comment. Beside her, Holtzmann stiffened, her eyebrows almost disappearing into her hairline and Patty took a couple of steps backwards, away from Erin. Only Kevin seemed completely clueless about the sudden tension.

 

“Roof. Now.”

 

Holding her breath as Erin ordered her in the direction of the staircase, Jac genuinely considered the possibility that she had decided to take out her anger at Abby’s comment and what had happened to Holtzmann by throwing either herself or Jac off the roof. She followed silently as Erin strode up the final metal staircase and pushed open the door that led outside, leaning against the concrete surround and staring out at the city.

 

“Erin?”

 

“What?”

 

“Umm…” Jac tentatively stepped closer so that they were standing shoulder-to-shoulder. “What Abby said… I’m sure she didn’t–”

 

“She meant it.” Erin informed her calmly.

 

“No, I’m sure she didn’t. Abby loves you. Like… really, properly _loves_ you.”

 

The older woman nodded, still staring out at the cityscape. “I know she does.”

 

“And… that’s a problem?” Jac held up her hands in surrender when Erin wheeled round to look at her carefully through narrowed eyes. “I mean. I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

 

“Why?”

 

At a loss for words, the younger woman simply opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, doing a spectacular impression of a fish, before shrugging. “Well… entering the country, I guess…”

 

“What?”

 

“If I hadn’t come here then I wouldn’t have brought Katie, Holtzmann wouldn’t have been possessed, she would probably still be flirting with you, you probably wouldn’t be mad at Abby and–”

 

“You joining the team had nothing to do with Holtzmann stopping flirting with me.” Erin told her with a shrug. “Abby asked her to stop, so Holtz stopped. Also, I’m not mad at Abby.”

 

“Right, well, that's good. Clearly whatever I say isn’t getting us anywhere, so I’m just going to go.”

 

With her gaze on the buildings and the lights around them one more, Erin didn’t appear to notice as Jac backed towards the door. She had just laid her hand on the doorknob when the older woman spoke. Jac jumped at the sound but stopped and turned to look at her, a little disconcerted that Erin was still staring out into the distance.

 

“I understand what you did.”

 

“How? _I_ don’t understand what I did.” Jac admitted, hoping that Erin was going to look at her at some point. A large part of her still wanted to walk through the door and run away from the whole situation and having Erin staring at her would probably prevent her giving into that impulse. “I can’t believe I actually did it… I think I knew, straight away, that it was the worst possible thing I could do. As soon as you all took me in and made me feel like one of you I… I tried to stop it.”

 

“You lost the one person that meant more to you than anyone else.” Erin reminded her, almost gently, still not looking at her. “I know how that feels. Everyone reacts differently and, obviously, your loss was far more permanent than mine was. Also, you didn't play the major role in the cause of your heartache.”

 

“Abby?”

 

“We kissed earlier.”

 

Jac’s mouth dropped open. “You did what? When? Like…a _kiss_ kiss?”

 

“It was just before we went into the hospital and all of this blew up. We talked a bit and we kissed and... and now...”

 

“And now… now you’re fighting? Is this another thing I’ve messed up?”

 

“This isn’t all about you, Jac.” Erin snapped, finally turning and fixing the engineer with a scowl. “As crazy as this might sound to you; not everything is about you.”

 

“I… Sorry.”

 

“And stop saying sorry!” The older woman exploded. “If you have to say sorry this many times then you know you probably shouldn’t have done whatever it was in the first place!”

 

“I _do_ know that.”

 

“Well just… stop it.”

 

“I don’t know what to say, Erin.” Jac admitted, shaking her head. “How can I help? What can I do to even _start_ to make this better? I want to help you. I want to fix this.”

 

“We kissed, but then Abby told me that you and Holtz knew about us and our history. It was just too much to think about and I couldn't process it all… when I walked away this time I think I messed up… _again_. Like, I think I _really_ messed up. Abby is never going to forgive me for doing the same thing to her twice and… Holtzmann is fiercely protective of her and may punch me in the face for hurting her.”

 

“I won’t let Holtzmann punch you, I promise.” The younger woman assured her, shaking her head. “I’ll stand in front of you if she looks like she’s aiming her fist in your direction. I would deserve it anyway.” Erin laughed softly, the sound allowing a tiny flicker of hope to enter Jac’s heart. “Holtzmann kissed me.”

 

“When?”

 

“After… after you and Abby left at the warehouse. Twice, actually.”

 

“But you’re leaving anyway?” Erin asked, narrowing her eyes.

 

“I’m no good for her. Holtzmann is… Holtzmann.”

 

“She is.” Erin nodded slowly. “I love Holtzmann, god knows I love her. But we need to stop treating her like a child genius. While she is definitely a genius – and quite small and childlike – she’s not a _child_. After everything that happened with Rowan everyone, me included, was wrapping her up in cotton wool. For a while she loved it, she loved the attention and the special treatment but… it got too much for her. She came to me and told me that she needed it to stop and she needed things to go back to normal. Abby hadn’t had half as much attention… maybe she should have, considering what she went through. She channelled herself into making sure everyone else was OK and I should have known that she wasn’t. I should have known.”

 

“Did none of you actually talk to each other after this apocalypse thing?” Jac blurted out, unable to stop herself. “Abby mentioned something to me… you and Holtzmann have spoken to each other. Kevin is oblivious… what about Patty?”

 

“Patty is the smartest one; she has a therapist.”

 

“Patty _is_ the smartest one.”

 

“So you’re just going to go?” Erin asked quietly.

 

“I thought you’d want me to.”

 

“Why?”

 

Jac was taken aback by the blunt question. She had assumed that Erin would have been only too happy to see her go. Since she’d arrived, she’d found it the hardest to connect with Dr Gilbert. Erin had seemed suspicious of her right from the beginning. Her misgivings about adding someone new to their number had been obvious to the younger woman and, while Jac couldn’t blame her for being protective of the others, she had thought that Erin would be pleased to see the back of her.

 

“I thought… I assumed that you’d tell me to leave if I didn’t offer.”

 

“Why?”

 

“OK, that question is getting old.” She sighed. “I betrayed you. While I can safely say I will _never_ do that again, how can you realistically trust me? This job… it’s more than a job. It’s life. You need to be able to trust me with your life. Can you do that?”

 

Erin looked at her for a moment and then nodded. “Yes.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Now who’s asking the old question?” Erin asked with a smirk. “I see the same thing in you as I see in myself, in Abby, in Patty and in Holtzmann. All five of us have that burning need to belong to something… to someone. We found it here, with this crazy bunch of misfits and I think you have too.”

 

“I don’t know…”

 

“I do.” The older woman told her firmly. “And I have a PhD, so you’d better listen to me.”

 

Laughing for the first time in what felt like forever, Jac met her eyes. Both of them burst into a fresh peel of, almost hysterical, laughter. They clung to each other, unable to stop, with tears rolling down their cheeks.

 

That was how the others found them a short while later; cautiously creeping out onto the roof when there was no indication that the two women might be returning to the main floors of the building. Patty led the way, all four of them secretly wondering what they might find. Erin had been wound pretty tightly when she’d demanded that Jac accompany her up onto the roof and they were a little concerned about what might have happened. Holtzmann had wondered, out loud, whether Erin was planning to throw Jac off the top of the building. Patty and Abby had exchanged a wary look and suggested that they went to find out what was keeping them.

 

“Are you alright?” Abby asked, frowning at the sight that greeted her eyes, so far from what she had been expecting.

 

Pulling herself together, Erin wiped at her eyes. “Fine, great… the greatest, actually.”

 

“Right…?”

 

“Erin, baby, have you lost your damn mind?” Patty demanded. “We thought you were going to do some actual damage to Jac when you went all Godfather on her ass. Demanding she came up here, what was that about?”

 

“We needed air and we needed to talk.” Erin informed them. “We got some air, we talked and we’ve worked a few things out.”

 

“What things?”

 

Erin shot a sideways look at Jac. “Some people may be childlike, but they’re not actually children.”

 

“Human shields are often a welcome idea.”

 

“‘Why?’ is an old question.”

 

“A lot more has gone on today than we originally thought.”

 

Patty looked between them, confusion twisting her features. “What the _fuck_ are you two going on about?”

 

“Don’t worry about it.” Jac told her with a small smile, shaking her head.

 

“Jac’s changed her mind. She’s staying.” Erin informed the others bluntly, folding her arms and shooting everyone a look that told them that she was not in the mood for an argument on the subject. “Don’t you even think about skipping out on us now, Beckman.”

 

“I wasn’t planning to.” Kevin informed her with a bright smile, pushing his glasses further up his nose.

 

“I wasn’t actually talking to you, Kev, but I’m glad to hear it.” Erin told him, reaching out and punching him lightly and incredibly awkwardly on the shoulder. “And I’m sorry about…”

 

“Oh, it’s cool. It was getting a bit serious for me anyway. With the Hide and Seek Tournament, the Pokemon Go League and my dog pantomime group I didn’t really have the time for a girlfriend.”

 

The physicist nodded understandingly. “Well, I’m glad Mike won’t miss out on his starring role.”

 

“Did I tell you he’s playing Captain Hook in Peter Pan?”

 

“Yeah, buddy, you did.” Abby replied gently, clapping him on the back. “We’re all so proud.”

 

“So… we’re all staying?” Holtzmann asked hopefully, looking around the assembled group. “For real?”

 

“Yeah, I think so.” Erin agreed, slinging an arm around Jac’s shoulders. “And, from now on, we’re going to try something new. We’re going to try talking about things instead of thinking we know what’s happening and how other people are.”

 

“What?” The blonde stared at her as though she’d grown a second head. “Like… feelings?”

 

“Yes, Holtzy, feelings. If you’d told us you were feeling stifled after the Rowan incident then it would have stopped straight away.” The older woman pointed out, arching an eyebrow at her. Then she took a quick breath and turned to look at Abby, her arm falling away from Jac’s shoulders as she took a step towards the shorter woman. “If I’d told you how stupid I’d been as soon as I realised it… how much I missed you… how much I think about you…”

 

“Oh, shut up, Gilbert.” Abby ordered, surging forward and grasping Erin’s face in her hands.

 

Holtzmann whooped loudly, dancing around the space around them as the two former lovers kissed, apparently too wrapped up in each other to remember where they were. Patty clapped her hands, laughing delightedly at the sight and even Kevin cheered joyfully. Jac wrapped an arm around his waist, laughing as he hugged her tightly to him and lifted her off her feet.

 

“Hey, Beckman, shall we show them how it’s really done?” Holtzmann offered, winking at Jac as she shimmied past her, shaking her hips.

 

“I thought you were a lesbian?” Kevin asked in hopeful bemusement, immediately letting go of Jac and leaping after the blonde.

 

“Kev! I am!” She laughed, pushing him away. “I was talking to the other Beckman. That is going to get really confusing.”

 

“Titch?” Kevin wrinkled his nose as he turned to look at the woman in question. “Eww, why?”

 

In total contrast to the almost frenzied, desperate, reconciliatory kissing of Abby and Erin behind them, when Holtzmann reached Jac she was moving so incredibly slowly that the younger woman almost thought she was imagining it. She brought her hands up to rest on either side of Holtzmann’s neck, smiling softly at her as she lifted one hand a little further to tuck a stray curl behind the blonde’s ear. Holtzmann beamed at her, her bright blue eyes twinkling with happiness as Jac leant in so close that their breaths mingled between them. She paused, hanging back and letting the other woman make the final decision. Not thinking twice, Holtzmann closed the gap and pressed her mouth gently against Jac’s.

 

“Oh hell no! Don’t you even think about it, man-boy.” Patty warned Kevin, holding up one finger in his direction as he seemed to realise they were the only two on the roof not kissing and took several steps towards her. “We are not going there.”

 

“But I feel left out.” He whined.

 

She sighed deeply, rolling her eyes. “Let’s order pizza and you can tell me all about this dog play.” As she led him towards the door into the building, she shook her head. “You bitches owe me, big time!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is it! The end of Yellow Tinted Goggles! I want to thank everyone who's been reading and those of you leaving comments and kudos! It means a lot! :)
> 
> I have been toying with the idea, and jotting down a few snippets of, a sequel... I wanted to know whether you'd want to read it?! Let me know!


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